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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR 

BUREAU OF FISHERIES 

GHORGE M. BOWERS, Cojnmiisiontt 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS 
AND INVESTIGATIONS IN 



Bureau of Fisheries Document No, 731 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1910 





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Book 'L^s 



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR 

\Y BUREAU OF FISHERIES 

GEORGE M. BOWERS, Commissioner 'f --/ T 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS 

AND INVESTIGATIONS IN 

LOUISIANA 



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Bureau of Fisheries Document No. 731 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1910 



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OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS AND INVESTIGATIONS 

IN LOUISIANA 

By H. F, Moore and T* E. B. Pope, 

Assistants, United States Bureau of Fisheries. 



Bureou of Fisheries Document No. 731. 

1 



CONTENTiS. 



Page. 

Previous investigations, resulting legislation and its effects 5 

Permits to take uuculled oysters 9 

Suggestions concerning surveys 12 

Experiments in oyster culture 14 

Jefferson Parish 15 

Bayou St. Denis 18 

Bay Tambour 23 

St. Bernard Parish 27 

Falsemouth Bay 28 

Three-mile and Nine-mile bays 33 

Terrebonne Parish 37 

Seabreeze 40 

Pelican Lake 42 

Oyster food 45 

Summary and conclusion 50 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS AND INVESTIGATIONS 

IN LOUISIANA. 



By H. F. Moore and T. E. R. Pope. 



PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS, RESULTING LEGISLATION AND ITS EFFECTS. 

In the winter of 1898 and 1899 the Bureau of Fisheries made a 
reconnaissance of the oyster beds on the Louisiana coast between 
Mississippi Sound and Atchafalaya Eiver, The report" on this 
work contained a chart giving with approximate accuracy the loca- 
tion of the oyster beds of a considerable part of St. Bernard Parish 
and a general description of the beds, not only of that region but of 
practically the entire oyster-producing area of Louisiana. The coast 
west of the Atchafalaya was not included, partly for lack of time, 
but principally because the conditions there appeared to be such as 
to militate against the development of any considerable oyster 
industry. 

Data w^ere published relating to the salinity of the water, the food, 
spawning, growth, and enemies of the oyster, the general character 
of the bottoms, the relative prevalence of freshets and crevasses, and, 
in general, all factors having a bearing upon oysters and oyster 
culture. 

Some attention was given to the extent of the oyster-planting in- 
dustry, the methods employed, and the results obtained, but no 
experiments were made to determine in a definite way the results 
which could be expected from a systematic endeavor to establish 
oyster culture on a rational basis and to substitute for the haphazard 
practices on the natural beds the more reliable methods certain to 
be followed on planted grounds nnder private supervision and owner- 
ship. Based on the observations, the report included a number of 
recommendations in regard to the requirements for the conservation, 
protection, and development of the oyster industry both as to the 

" Report on the oyster beds of Louisiana, H. F. Moore, Report United States Fish 
Commission, 1898, p. 45-100. 

3 



4 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 

administration of the public beds and the establishment of private 
ones. 

After several years of agitation and discussion the legislature in 
1902 passed a general oyster law based on the recommendations of 
that report. The law was materially amended in 1904 and 1906. 
and as it now stands on the statute books it embraces practically in 
their entirety those recommendations and suggestions. 

The effects of the law were almost immediately apparent in the 
growth of the oyster industry and the increase which it contributed 
to the state revenues. Prior to its passage jurisdiction over the 
oyster bottoms was lodged solely in the police juries of the several 
coastal parishes, with the result that the administration of the laws 
was contradictory and ineffective. The potential wealth lying con- 
cealed beneath the tide waters of the state was not appreciated and 
the oyster industry was neither protected nor fostered. 

The several local bodies having jurisdiction had neither the incli- 
nation nor the machinery for an effective administration of the inter- 
ests committed to their charge. The oyster beds practically all lie 
in waters remote from the habitations of man, and to police them 
effectively is a matter of considerable physical difficulty, requiring 
the use of boats to cruise along the coast constantly. Moreover, the 
police juries and their executive agents w^ere usually men having but 
slight coastal connections and interests, and it is not surprising that 
they were more concerned in parish matters more immediately under 
their notice and within their experience and understanding. 

The fundamental feature of the new law was the creation of a 
state oyster commission having sole jurisdiction, in oyster and cog- 
nate matters, over the entire coast, insuring consistency and unifor- 
mity of administration, and endowed with ample police powers to 
make effective the law and the regulations which it authorizes. The 
larger resources of the state permit the employment of boats capable 
of policing the beds during the bad weather of the oyster season, 
requiring the oystermen to observe the cull laws and other essential 
regulations which under the older regime were disregarded with 
impunity. 

The next most important feature of the new legislation was the 
passage of consistent and reasonable provisions for the encourage- 
ment and regulation of oyster culture. For those who comply with 
reasonable requirements this provides, in lieu of the former uncer- 
tainty, an assured tenure of sufficient duraton to prove attractive to 
prospective oyster culturists, and while the restriction upon the 
acreage (1,000 acres) that may be allotted to any one person is such 
as to prevent the establishment of a monopoly of the best grounds, 
it does not prevent the acquisition of an area sufficient to satisfy the 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS TN LOUISIANA. 5 

legitimate requirements of a considerable corporation. The rental 
is $1 per acre for the first fifteen years of the term of the lease and 
$2 per acre for the succeeding ten years, and in addition there is a tax 
of 3 cents per barrel (3^ bushels) on all oysters marketed, whether 
from the natural reefs or planted beds.'^ 

Partly on account of the unusually favorable natural conditions 
under which the oyster industry is conducted in Louisiana, but 
largely by reason of the protection which the laws accord to the 
natural beds and the encouragement which they extend to oyster 
culture, the oyster fishery of the state has made extraordinary prog- 
ress since the establishment of the commission. This is illustrated 
in the following table : 

Production of Oysters in Louisiana in Recent Years, 



Year. 


Product. 


Increase 

per 
annum. 


Year. 


Product. 


Increase 

per 
annum. 


1897 


Bushels. 

959, 190 

1,198,413 

1,534,000 

1,620,576 


Per cent. 


1905 


Bushels. 
2,187,000 
2,486,256 
3,035,370 

"3,600,000 


Per cent. 
35 


1902 


5 

28 
6 


1906 


14 


1903 


1907 


2' 


1904 


1908 . 


o 19 









a About. 

In the five years preceding the enactment of the first oyster law the 
increase in the production, which was mainly from the natural beds, 
was 20 per cent, while in the first five years following the passage 
of the act, and after it had been improved and amended, the increase 
was 154 per cent. 

The data for 1897 and 1902 are based upon the canvasses of the 
Bureau of Fisheries, while those for subsequent years are the quan- 
tities upon which were paid the " privilege tax," of which more 
will be said hereafter. 

The increase between 1902 and 1903 can not be definitely accounted 
for and may possibly be due to a difference in the method of gather- 
ing the statistics, but from 1904 onward the increases are in part 
due to the fostering of new oyster houses and the care of the natural 
beds, but particularly to the fact that the private oyster bottoms 
were coining into productiveness. The natural beds of the state 
still produce in quantity more than the planted beds, but the dis- 
parity is yearly becoming less, and in 1908 the value of oysters 
marketed from planted grounds slightly exceeded that of those de- 
rived from the natural beds. The quantity produced exceeded the 
whole product of the state at the time of the investigation of 1898, 

" The laws in full may be had by application to the Louisiana Oyster Commission, 
Maison Blanche Building, New Orleans, La. 



6 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA, 

and almost equaled the yield from all sources in 1902, when the first 
comprehensive oyster law w^as enacted. 

The increase in the area of bottoms under leasehold since the en- 
actment of the present laws has been astonishing. The exact area 
of the leased bottoms of the state at the time of the investigation of 
1898 can not be stated, but in Terrebonne Parish there were then on 
record 32 leases, aggregating about IGO acres. Ten years later, 
March, 1908, after the new laws had been in force but six years, 
there were operative in that parish 411 leases, aggregating 5,803 
acres. In 1898 the state derived from its oyster lands in Terrebonne 
Parish not over $80, and the parish not exceeding an equal amount. 
In 1908 the gross income of the state from the same waters was 
about $8,900, 

From 1885 to 1902, under the parish administration of the oyster 
fishery, but 521 leases, covering 2,820 acres, had been executed in the 
entire state and many of them had lapsed at the latter date. In 
March, 1908, there were in the state 1,692 effective leases, covering 
22,135 acres of bottom. 

It is interesting to observe that although the state permits one 
person or corporation to lease a maximum of 1,000 acres, the average 
leasehold at the present time is but 13 acres. There is apparently no 
tendency to " acquire a monopoly," which is so much feared by 
opponents of oyster culture, and while several leases of from 500 to 
1,000 acres have been granted, most of the holdings are in 10-acre 
parcels leased mainly by persons formerly working on the natural 
beds. 

There is no doubt that the average size of the leased beds will in- 
crease. The oyster-planting industry of the state is as yet, in large 
measure, in the more primitive stage. Seed oysters from the natural 
beds are laid down for a year or less and a small acreage suiRces for 
a considerable product. The inevitable necessity of changing this 
method to that of planting cultch is beginning to make itself felt, 
and as under the latter system the oysters will probably be left at 
least two years on the bottom the requirement of larger holdings will 
assert itself. 

If the oyster industry of the state is to continue to expand in the 
future as in the past, the sooner this change in methods of culture 
is established the better for all concerned. Carrying the oysters 
from crowded natural reefs and bedding them for a few months on 
private grounds where the conditions are better produces a superior 
oyster and undoubtedly saves many that would die in the struggle 
for existence under natural conditions. In that way, properly con- 
ducted, transplanting increases both the volume and the value of the 
oyster product, but the area of the natural beds is fixed as to its 
maximum, and their ultimate productive capacity is correspondingly 



OYSTER CULTUEE EXPEEIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 7 

fixed. They can, as a whole, produce but a more or less definite 
maximum quantity of oysters, and experience in other places has 
shown that this maximum is soon reached in the development of the 
fishery, and that thereafter the productiveness of the beds decreases 
by reason of the intensive fishery which the demands of the markets 
induce. The natural beds inevitably tend to depletion despite all 
eiforts at their protection. 

It can not be definitely stated that the maximum productiveness of 
the natural beds of Louisiana has yet been attained, but there is 
reason to believe that this is the fact in some localities. In Terre- 
bonne Parish, according to observations made incidentally during 
the term of the present experiments, but more especially as shown by 
the studies made by Mr. L. E. Gary « in 1906 and 1907, certain reefs 
highly productive in 1898 are now depleted or barren, mainly as a 
result of overfishing. 

Whereas at the time of the investigation of 1898 practically all 
oysters from this parish came directly from the natural reefs, it is 
stated that the greater part of the product now comes from the 
planted beds. Most of this product, however, has its prime source 
in the natural beds, whose oysters are transplanted or bedded for a 
year or less on the private grounds. By this method of planting the 
drain on the natural beds is maintained or even accelerated under 
the present system of granting permits to take uncuUed oysters for 
planting purposes. 

PERMITS TO TAKE UNCULLED OYSTERS. 

Under the laws now in force the oyster commission is empowered 
to issue special permits to take rough or unculled stock from the 
public beds for planting purposes, provided the leased bottoms to 
which they are removed are over 6 miles distant from known natural 
reefs. This provision was incorporated in the law for the purpose 
of encouraging the establishment of seed beds on bottoms presum- 
ably too far removed from spawning oysters to allow them to receive 
a natural set of spat on planted cultch, the issuance of the permits 
being optional with the oyster commission. 

It is a common practice for those to whom such permits are issued 
to take up not only large and small oysters, but quantities of shells 
also, or, in other words, to remove, bodily, portions of the reefs them- 
selves. The reefs are thus depleted not only of their oysters, but of 
the bottom to which they are attached, and recuperation is prevented 
by the loss of the shells which under normal natural conditions furnish 
the only places for the attachment of fresh generations of young. 
There is thus reduction in both actual and potential productive- 

"A preliminary study of the conditions for oyster culture in the waters of Terrebonne 
Parish, La. Bulletin 9, Gulf Biologic Station, Cameron, La. 

34455—10 2 



8 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 

ness, and the ultimate result of the policy which permits it is not diffi- 
cult to see. It must inevitably be the accelerated depletion of the 
natural beds. 

The purpose of the provision is meritorious, but it rarely should be 
necessary to put it into effect under the conditions obtaining in Louisi- 
ana. Outside of Barataria Bay there were very few places suitable 
for oyster culture which were at the time of the enactment actually 
more than 6 miles removed from spawning oysters, either natural 
or planted ; and even in that region the planting of brood oysters is 
no longer necessary, since the establishment of this Bureau's experi- 
mental plants and the commercial oyster culture which they have 
encouraged furnishes an ample supply of spawning oysters. 

The authors have received the impression that these permits have 
been issued rather too generously for the best welfare of the natural 
beds, for not only have they been granted to practically all applicants, 
but it is understood that they have been issued to the same persons in 
consecutive years. Even in cases in Avhich it is necessary or advan- 
tageous to grant to a planter permission to take unculled material 
from the natural beds, the practical end contemplated by the law is 
served by one permit, which will allow the establishment of a self- 
perpetuating colony of brood oysters, sufficient for all time, unless de- 
stroyed by crevasses, the inroads of enemies, or other accidents. If 
the oysters do not thrive under the general environment to which 
they are transplanted, that in itself is evidence that the locality is for 
some reason ill chosen and additional experiment in the same place 
is likely to prove futile. If the bottom is to be used merely as a bed- 
ding or fattening ground, to be planted with oysters year after year, 
the issuance of the permits is unnecessary. 

The present practice not only injures the natural beds, but it tends 
to discourage the planting of shells and other cultch, without which 
the oyster industry of Louisiana can never reach its full productive 
development. For both reasons it appears advisable that the issuance 
of these licenses or permits should be restricted and their necessity 
subjected to stricter scrutiny. In those cases in which permits to 
take unculled oysters appear desirable the oyster commission may 
Avith advantage assume the power, which would appear to be legally 
within its discretion, to designate the reefs from which such oysters 
may be taken. 

In some cases natural beds are so situated with respect to the 
sources of supply of fresh water that they are peculiarly liable to 
damage from freshets and crevasses, their oysters being frequently 
killed before they have had time to grow to marketable size. Such 
beds are often prolific spatting grounds, and the only way in which 
the abundant product of young oysters may be utilized is by using 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 9 

them as seed for planting on private beds more favorably situated for 
their growth to commercial maturity. 

Other beds are, under natural conditions, of little present value 
owing to an excessive production of oysters. Year after year there 
is a heavy set of spat and the beds become so crowded with oysters 
of all ages that all are poor, ill shaped, and practically worthless. 
The price which such stock will bring in the markets is so low that 
the expense of culling is prohibitive, and thousands of barrels of 
potentially valuable oysters die from starvation, smothering, and 
crowding. 

If not denuded of shells these crowded beds may be improved by 
a removal of a more or less limited portion of their contents, thus 
leaving more room and a proportionately greater food supply for 
the growth of the remainder. The superfluous oysters, if not too old, 
and, therefore, probably irreparably stunted, serve the purpose of 
brood and seed stock quite as w^ell as oysters from localities naturally 
more favorable, the only requisite for the production of well-favored 
stock of good shape being that the larger clusters be broken into 
small ones to allow sufficient room for the expansion of the indi- 
viduals. 

It would be desirable if even the culled seed oysters used for bed- 
ding purposes were taken largely from those natural beds which 
do not ordinarily produce fat marketable oysters of the better grades, 
for if they be of fair shape they wall speedily fatten on good bedding 
grounds however inferior their original condition. This practice 
would make valuable many oysters which w^ould otherwise remain so 
poor as to be practically unmarketable, while the oysters of the better 
beds would be left for the benefit of those who obtain their livelihood 
directly from the natural reefs. 

This restriction as to the source of the seed supply is probably not 
feasible in its application to those planters who gather culled seed 
during the regular season, but it would appear applicable to many 
cases in which special concessions are granted, under section 19 of 
act 178 of 1906, permitting the fishing of culled oysters, for bedding 
purposes only, during the month of May. The discretion lodged 
with the oyster commission in the section cited would appear to 
convey the power to designate the reefs from wdiich the seed oysters 
may be obtained. This provision of the law at present applies solely 
to the waters east of the western boundary of Plaquemines Parish, 
but it could be extended wdth profit to other waters of the state, 
provided that the permits be granted with discrimination and with 
due regard to the considerations just set forth. 

The foregoing discussion concerns, principally, the conservation 
of the natural reefs. There are, in addition, several highly impor- 
tant suggestions relating to the future welfare of the planted beds. 



10 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 

SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING SURVEYS. 

The first of these applies to the manner of making and recording 
the surveys of leased bottom and is made with a full understanding 
of the great difficulties confronting the surveyors in the conduct of 
their work. The oyster regions of the state are almost wholly in 
an intricate system of bays and bayous lying in the midst of a flat 
and topographically featureless expanse of salt marsh and prairie. 
The land is rarely more than a foot or two above high-water mark 
and is almost devoid of trees and conspicuous distinctive marks of 
any kind. For a large part of the area there are no even approxi- 
mately satisfactory maps or charts. The work of the United States 
Coast and Geodetic Survey has been confined almost entirely to the 
outer coast, which alone is of importance from a viewpoint of navi- 
gation, although in a few places, as in the St. Bernard marshes, 
Barataria Bay, and, more recently, in Terrebonne Bay, the work 
has been carried some distance inland. Many bodies of water of 
more or less importance in the oyster industry are not shown on 
any maps published, many others are so incorrectly laid down as 
to be practically or absolutely unrecognizable, and on some maps 
there are showai bodies of water which do not exist. 

Confronted by these serious difficulties, the lack of comprehensive 
surveys and authentic maps, and the paucity of conspicuous per- 
manent landmarks, the surveyors in many cases have been at a loss 
to prepare plats of much value as matters of permanent record. The 
corner marks of the leaseholds are frail stakes standing in the water, 
where they are subject to the erosions of destructive marine organ- 
isms and dislodgment by gales and collisions with passing boats. 
They must be frequently replaced, and are of no value as final points 
of reference. 

In the great majority of cases important corners can be " tied up " 
to no permanent natural objects, and they are located with respect to 
bearings and angles taken to tangents of points of land. As is well 
known to those familiar with the region, many of these points are 
so similar to one another that it is difficult to recognize the descrip- 
tions and, moreover, they are undergoing constant erosion from the 
waves. Narrow strips of land are converted first into islands and 
then eventually disappear entirely and within a few years may 
become absolutely useless for topographical reference. At the present 
time, wdth the leaseholds comparatively few and generally more or 
less isolated from one another, the matter is not of grave immediate 
importance, the chief desideratum of confining the lessee to an area 
no greater than that to which he is entitled being easily attained. 
The nice location of a man's 10 or 20 acres is of little present moment, 
provided that he pays the rental on the full area occupied. 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. H 

If, however, the o3'ster-i:)hinting industry of the state assumes the 
ultimate magnitude to which the natural advantages entitle it, the 
defects in the surveys will lead to endless trouble and dispute. The 
best bottom will be in demand, the leaseholds will become congested 
in favorable localities, and their boundaries will have to be jealously 
guarded, especially when the bottoms hold a valuable crop. Should 
the grounds become as valuable as some of those in Rhode Island, for 
instance, the matter of their exact location will assume importance, 
and in the controversies that are sure to arise between adjoining 
lessees on account of the necessarily impermanent nature of the 
water boundary marks it will be highly essential to have for final 
reference and adjudication permanent landmarks which can not be 
questioned. With the surveys as now made and platted the time will 
come when neither surveyor, judge, nor jury can intelligently pass 
on some of the controversies that may arise. 

The theoretically correct solution of this prospective difficulty 
would be a topographical survey of the oyster regions, with per- 
manent " monuments " at all, or at least the important, triangulation 
stations. The whole sj'stem of leaseholds could then be brought into 
relationship and the danger of overlapping and conflicting grants 
would be eliminated. The water corners would be trigonometrically 
referred to the established landmarks and the controverted boun- 
daries could be at any time readily redetermined. A survey of this 
character would be expensive, but if properly made it would have 
enduring value. The survey of the Maryland oyster grounds now 
being made through the cooperation of the federal and state govern- 
ments will be available for all time, with occasional replacement of 
displaced or destroyed triangulation monuments. In the develop- 
ment of the oyster industry its value will yearly grow more apparent. 

In the absence of an elaborate survey such as that outlined, some- 
thing of permanence could be given to the present surveys if they 
Avere correlated with durable landmarks established in the marshes. 
Drain tiles, sunk for the greater part of their depth and filled with 
concrete, appropriately marked at the top, located at sufficient dis- 
tances from the shore to reduce their liability to being washed away, 
would make excellent marks if they were included in the plats of 
the survey. From time to time, as they became more generally dis- 
tributed, the different groups could be connected by triangulation 
and eventually cut in with the accurately established triangulation 
stations of the Coast Survey. This would result in the gradual 
establishment of a chart of the most important oyster-culture regions 
and give some permanence to the surveys of the individual holdings. 
It would require the expenditure of some additional labor and care 
on the part of the field surveyors and general supervision by the 
engineer of the commission. The slight additional cost of the sur- 



12 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA, 

veys over the present charges should be borne by the state rather 
than by the lessee, and in the interest of the future some of the surplus 
revenue of the oyster commission could be well devoted to such work. 
That the difficulty of lack of accurate charting is not an imaginary 
one is shown by the experience of other states. In Maryland there 
have been found plats and descriptions of leased oyster bottom which 
were absolutely impossible of recognition, and to confirm the gi'ants 
as required under recent legislative enactment it was necessary to 
run new lines arbitrarily. When Connecticut took charge of the 
oyster grounds of Long Island Sound the same difficulty was en- 
countered. Many of the leaseholds could not be located from the 
surveys, and much time and money was expended in reconciling, 
usually by compromise, the conflicting claims of adjoining lessees. 
Recently Delaware, with its comparatively small area of leased bot- 
toms and well-surveyed shores, has been compelled to admit that 
the leaseholds can not be located from the descriptions, and has un- 
dertaken an accurate triangulation, the establishment of permanent 
reference marks, and a resurvey of the whole area of leased bottom. 
Louisiana's oyster industry is younger than those of the states men- 
tioned, and conflicts and uncertainties in the location of private 
holdings have not yet become pressing, but in view of the astonishing 
development of oyster planting in the state the time is not distant 
when the matter will become of commanding importance. 

EXPERIMENTS IN OYSTER CULTURE. 

Mention has been made previously of the methods of oyster culture 
in Louisiana and the com^^arative insignificance, at present, of cultcli 
planting. The advantages, disadvantages, and ultimate limitation of 
seed planting, unsupplemented by the other method, have been briefly 
indicated. 

The planting of seed oysters from the natural beds owed its pre- 
ponderance originally to the ease with which the stock could be ob- 
tained and the controlling difficulty of obtaining shells and other 
cultch, but at present it can be explained in many places solely by 
that conservatism of the planters which inhibits their departure from 
a known method to adopt one with which they are not familiar. 

In the region east of the Mississippi River the supply of seed on 
the natural reefs is still large, and in many cases the beds produce 
oysters which are fit only for that purpose or for canning. This is 
particularly true of California Bay and contiguous waters in Pla- 
quemines Parish. 

"West of the Mississippi the conditions are wholly different. In 
Plaquemines, Jefferson, and Lafourche parishes there are practically 
no natural beds, and for many years there have been none from which 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 18 

any considerable siippl}^ of seed could be obtained. At the time of 
the examination of 1898 the beds on the east side of Timbalier Bay, 
in Lafourche Parish, were approaching exhaustion and they are now 
negligible commercially. In Terrebonne Parish many of the natural 
beds existing in 1808 have practically disappeared, and most of the 
others have become depleted to an extent that makes the procuring 
of a sufficient supply of seed a grave problem with the planters. 
Terrebonne Parish formerly supplied the seed for most of the plant- 
ing beds of Plaquemines Parish west of the Mississippi "Kiver, but 
the supply now comes wholly from the beds east of the river. The 
seed oysters planted in Jefferson Parish come from the same source, 
the time consumed in going to and returning from the seed beds often 
being equal to that required to tong a cargo. It is evident, therefore, 
that the experience of Louisiana will be like that of other oyster- 
producing states, where a dependence for seed upon the natural beds 
eventually produced a scarcity which more or less seriously inter- 
fered with the growth of oyster culture. 

Louisiana, however, has a material advantage over most northern 
states in this, that almost absolute dependence can be placed upon 
procuring a set of spat every year, provided proper materials are 
supplied as cultch. It was to demonstrate these facts and to deter- 
mine the possibilities of this method of oyster culture in several 
parts of the Louisiana coast that the following experiments were 
conducted by the Bureau of Fisheries at the request of the state 
oyster commission. 

"Work was begun in November, 1905, when the senior author made 
an inspection of the coast as far west as Terrebonne Bay and selected 
locations for the experimental work. It was determined to begin 
the investigations at Three-mile Bayou and Falsemouth Bay in St. 
Bernard Parish, at Tambour Bay and near the mouth of Bayou 
St. Denis in Jefferson Parish, and at Seabreeze, in Terrebonne Bay, 
close to a cut-off leading into Bayou Terrebonne. At this time 
there were no known natural beds in Jefferson Parish, and to supply 
breeding oysters for the experiments the Louisiana Oj'ster Commis- 
sion in January, 1906, deposited about 50 barrels of unculled stock 
each at Tambour Bay and Bayou St. Denis. The other sites selected 
were hi proximity to oyster beds and the deposit of brood oysters 
was unnecessary. 

JEFFERSON PARISH. 

That the southern half of Barataria Bay was formerly a produc- 
tive oyster region is attested by the statements of the inhabitants and 
the great bank of shells on the former site of the packing house, 
but the beds were exterminated by overfishing, probably coupled 
with natural causes, and at the time of the investigation of 1898 



14 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA, 

they were recognizable only by the presence of old shells more or less 
buried in the mud. In a few places there were occasional old oysters, 
but no spat whatever. None of the natural beds appear to have 
been extensive, and their extermination was readily accomplished by 
the reckless methods employed in the fishery, particularly under the 
changes in the salinity conditions which were then in progress. 

A few oysters for local use were annually planted close to Grand 
Isle and at Grand Bank, and in Bay Coquille some were bedded for 
market, but in neither place was there any indication of a volunteer 
growth of young. 

There was no evidence of the existence of beds at any time in the 
upper part of the bay, and persons familiar with the region stated 
that none had ever been known north of the Quartelle, a group of 
four small islands near the center of Grand Lake. About 1903 a 
small bed was found near Bayou St. Denis, but this was quickly 
depleted and a careful search in 1905 failed to disclose any oysters 
whatever on its site. 

In 1898 the whole upper part of the bay was of low salinity, and 
it was stated that during spring and early summer the water was 
often nearly or quite fresh for months, and it w^as manifest that the 
conditions were not favorable for oyster growth. With the improve- 
ment of the levee system the volume of fresh water discharging into 
the bay has markedly decreased, and the general salinity of the whole 
region has correspondingly increased. The closure of the head of 
Bayou Lafourche has had a very marked influence in Bay Coquille 
and contiguous waters, where the density of 1.0038 observed in 
March, 1898, has increased to an average of about 1.0186 during the 
same season of recent years, and at Leeville, immediately on the 
bayou, where the w^ater was formerly always fresh, a set of oysters 
has several times occurred. In Bay Tambour the observed density 
in March, 1898, was 1.0094, while the average for approximately the 
same season in 1906 to 1908 was 1.0151. In Bay des Islettes there is 
noticeable a slight rise in salinity, but nearer the sea, as at Grand 
Isle, there appears to be little or no change. 

Nearer the mouths of Grand Bayou and Bayou St. Denis we have 
no early data concerning the saltness of the water, though it was 
stated in 1898 to be almost constantly fresh. During a crevasse in 
the spring of 190T, when the conditions were such as frequently, if 
not normally, existed in former times, this water was practically 
fresh for a considerable period, though the average density during 
other recent years has been about 1.0110. Little Lake, about 10 miles 
inland from the mouths of the bayous, where the water was formerly 
fresh and inhabited by large-mouth black bass, now contains oysters, 
undoubtedly derived from fry discharged from the experimental 
beds at the mouth of Bayou St. Denis. 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IX LOUISIANA. 15 

It is evident, therefore, that the zone of water favorable for oyster 
growth, and especially for the welfare of the spat, has moved gener- 
ally inland during recent years, owing to artificial changes in the 
drainage system resulting from levee improvements. We have made 
the same observations in Terrebonne Parish, where oysters are es- 
tablished in bayous which formerly carried water fresh at all times. 

The region nearer the coast is not so salt as of itself to inhibit the 
growth of oysters, but it has become sufficiently so to be especially 
favorable for the development of a very destructive enemy of the 
oyster, the snail or borer. Purpura, which kills the spat, though the 
adults are immune b}' reason of their heavy shells. On the other 
hand, the more inland waters have become sufficiently salt for the 
oyster, but are still too fresh to furnish the environment required by 
the borer. Of the two localities in which experiments were con- 
ducted in Barataria Bay, Ba}' Tambour falls within the first region 
and Bayou St. Denis in the second. In Bay Tambour, where natural 
beds existed until exterminated a number of years ago by overfishing, 
possibly supplemented b}' changes in salinity, the set on the experi- 
mental beds was as heavy as at Bayou St. Denis, though the spat 
were killed by borers within a month or two. The adult oysters 
were unharmed, and at Bayou St. Denis neither young nor adults 
were molested and no borers were found. 

It is evident from the details of the experiments hereafter re- 
counted that practically the entire bay may be utilized for oyster 
culture wherever suitable bottom can be found or made. North of 
a line running from the mouth of Bay Baptiste to about the mouth 
of Bayou du Fone shells and other cultch may be planted with very 
little risk of having the spat killed by borers and with every assur- 
ance that a strike will occur each season. This part of the bay 
covers about 8.000 to 10,000 acres. Though the bottom was not tested 
over much of this area it is probable that a considerable part of it is 
too soft for use without special preparation, though most of it will 
doubtless be utilized eventually. 

South of the line above mentioned is a region, embracing the greater 
part of the bay, where spat culture can not be attempted without 
considerable risk or, usuall}^, the certainty of meeting disaster through 
the depredations of the borer. In some localities the drumfish is 
likely to prove destructive, but where this danger does not occur 
oysters not less than 1^ or 2 inches long can be planted with the 
surety that they will grow into fine stock, commanding a good price 
in the New Orleans market. 

Before the experiments were begun there was some objection to 
the selection of Barataria as a field of operations, on the ground that 
there was no industry at that place which could be benefited, and that 
34455—10 3 



16 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 

the time and effort necessary could be expended to better advantage 
elsewhere. The answer to this objection was obvious, as the purpose 
of the work was to develop an industry where none existed, and not 
merely to supplement what had been already begun. The vindica- 
tion of the selection was apparent before the experiments were a 
year old, and the commercial response to the experimental results 
was immediate. 

Prior to the beginning of the experiments there had been issued 
in Jefferson Parish, which includes the waters under discussion, T 
leases, aggregating 75 acres, and of these 4 had lapsed. From the 
time the early results of the experiments first became known until 
April, 1908, there were issued 138 leases, covering 710 acres, yielding 
to the state an immediate annual income of $1 per acre, and the 
leases immediately surrounding the small experimental plant at 
Bayou St. Denis so hemmed it in that it was necessary to go on 
private bottoms in order to carry on the final stages of the w^ork. 

Many of these leaseholds have not yet become productive, but dur- 
ing the year ended April 1, 1909, there were shipped from Barataria 
Bay 29,874 barrels (97,090 bushels) of oj^sters, valued at $1.60 per 
barrel on the beds, and paying 40 cents per barrel transportation 
charges to New Orleans, Practically before the experiments w^ere 
concluded this region, hitherto producing nothing, was yielding to 
the state an annual income of $906.22 for rentals and $896.22 for the 
privilege tax of 3 cents per barrel, a total of $1,804.22 per annum. 
A more important phase of the results is that the planters during 
the same year received an income of $47,798.40 and the transporta- 
tion companies $11,949.60, a total of $59,748. Men formerly in debt 
have become independent, working no harder than they previously 
did as farmers or fishermen. 

Viewed from the standpoint of the consumer, the results of the 
work have been equally significant, adding to the state's food supply 
oysters enough to furnish 600,000 meals of 1 pound each. The region 
has excellent possibilities, and the oyster industry should undergo 
great expansion during the next few years. The oysters are of fine 
quality, fat and shapely, and in 1899 found a steady market when the 
product of the natural reefs went begging at one-fourth the price. 

BAYOU ST. DENIS. 

This experimental plant is located in Barataria Bay, about one- 
third mile from the mouth of Bayou St. Denis, on the edge of an 
oJd reef of dead clam shells, in about 6 feet of water. It was selected 
as being outside of the limits of the old oyster growth, and well 
adapted to test the validity of the opinion that the upper part of the 
bay had become adapted to the growth of oysters, and that no place 



U. S. B. F — Doc 731. 



Plate I. 



/ .-^ 




Ki 










:k 



'■^ fd 



^^ - ' -3; * r 




■ > ■ 





OYGTERS, AVERAGE SIZE, 1 AND 2 YEARS OLD RESPECTIVELY, GROWN ON OYSTER 

SHELLS AT BAYOU ST. DENIS, LOUISIANA. 

[Fig-ures natural .size.] 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 17 

on the coast of Louisiana offered superior advantages for oyster cul- 
ture. The currents are strong, both on the experimental beds and 
for a considerable distance in all directions on average tides at half 
ebb and half flood, ranging from about two-thirds to 1 mile per hour. 
This insures a good circulation of water, the frequent renewal of the 
food supply, and the practical certainty of a good set of spat upon 
material exposed at the proper season. 

The specific gravity of the water, which is a measure of its salinity, 
ranged from 1.002 during the crevasse of 1907 to 1.017, or, in other 
Avords, from practically fresh water to that which was essentially 
a mixture of two parts of sea water to one of fresh. The average for 
the whole period of the experiment was 1.009, or, if we exclude the 
period of the crevasse, it was about 1.012. This salinity, which ap- 
pears to be maintained quite uniformly during the oyster-shipping 
season, is well adapted to j^roducing oysters of excellent flavor for 
" counter stock." 

Prior to the experiment it had been feared that in case of a crevasse 
discharging through any of the bayous opening into the head of the 
bay the water would become so fresh as to kill the oysters planted on 
this bed. In the sj^ring of 1907 the levees broke at Live Oak and a 
great volume of river water coursed down Bayou St. Denis, and 
especiall}^ Grand Bayou, keeping the Avater on the experimental beds 
almost fresh during most of May and June. The only effect was 
practically to prevent a set of spat during these months, the adult 
oysters being unharmed. This was a rather severe test, and it demon- 
strates that but little or no harm is likely to occur from ordinary 
crevasses discharging into the drainage basins of bayous opening into 
the head of the bay, and that unless the freshet should continue as 
late as September the set of j^oung would not be prevented. 

The bottom in this vicinity is moderately hard, owdng principally 
to the large numbers of clam shells embedded in the mud. Over an 
area of several hundred acres surrounding the experimental plant the 
bottom is in many places more or less devoid of buried shells and 
somewhat softer, but w^ell within the limits suitable for oyster cul- 
ture. Still farther removed from the experimental plant the char- 
acter of the bottom is unknown, but there is probably a considerable 
area immediately available and undoubtedly much more that a mod- 
erate coating of shells would make suitable. 

With use all of this area would soon become harder from the col- 
lection of shells in and on the mud, and eventually would present 
characteristics similar to those found on the younger natural reefs. 
This phenomenon is well known to planters and oyster men, and it is 
a common practice in Louisiana to '" shell " the bottom so as to estab- 
lish on the soft mud a suitable foundation for the deposit of oysters 
pending the collection of a full cargo for market. 



18 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 



The observations made iii this locality during a period of three 
years indicate an abundance of food, and the strong currents already 
mentioned assure its distribution over a wide area. Oyster food is 
more abundant in this locality than at any other of the 40 stations 
at which observations were made, excepting only the middle of Bara- 
taria Bay and Falsemouth Bay. The following table shows the de- 
tails of the data relating to the observations on the organisms which 
constitute the greater part of the o^^ster's food, together with the 
salinities and temperatures of the water at the time the specimens 
were taken. 



Food Content, 



Specific Gravity, and Temperature of Water at Bayou 
St. Denis. 



Date. 


Specific 
gravity. 


Temper- 
ature. 


Food organisms per 
liter of water. 




Number. 


Volume. 


1906. 
April 24 


1. 00G6 
1. 0081 
1.0114 
1.0115 
1.0115 
1.0170 

1.0128 
1.0010 
1.0105 
1.0126 
1.0095 
1.0021 
1. 0028 
1. 0028 
1.0060 

1.0105 
1. 0106 
1. 0099 

1.0133 


"F. 
74.3 
77 

79.7 
83.3 
77.9 
68.0 

74.0 

70.0 

73 

72.5 

80.0 

79.0 

84.0 

84 

55 

86 
85 
83 

72 


1 Cm. mm. 
10,000 ! 0.160 


26 


14,000 1 .308 


May 25 


13,000 
12,000 
18,000 
7,800 

3,000 

5,600 

24,000 

21,000 

6,300 


.189 


28 


.352 


June 28 


.126 




.140 


1907. 


.153 




.301 


April 15 


1.321 


16 


.979 


29 


.369 


May 21 


3,500 1 .163 


June 25 


8,000 ; .206 


27 


7,350 
5,000 

4,200 
8,250 
12,750 

9,000 


.346 




.190 


1908. 
May 27. 


.163 


29 


.318 


July 7 


.346 


1909. 
January 27 


.280 


Average 


1.0090 




10, 145 


.337 









During the period of three years in which the work continued no 
oyster enemies were observed on the plantation excepting a growth 
of mussels which appeared during the freshet of 1907 but disappeared 
later when the salinity of the water became higher. 

The experiment began in January, 190G, when the Louisiana Oyster 
Commission, at the request of the Bureau, planted about 50 barrels of 
uncuUed oysters to serve as brood stock. On April 24 and 26 follow- 
ing, the first cultch was planted on three areas, each one-twentieth 
of an acre in extent, 50 bushels of material being deposited on each. 
On one square oyster shells were spread broadcast, on another they 
were deposited in heaps of 2 bushels each, and the third was planted 
with clam shells broadcast. On May 25 and June 28 the operations 



U. S. B. F.— Doc. 731. 



Plate II. 




OYSTER, AVERAGE SIZE, 33 MONTHS OLD, GROWN ON OYSTER SHELL AT 

BAYOU ST. DENIS, LOUISIANA. 

[Figure natural size.] 



i^ ', 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 19 

were repeated on two adjoinino- areas of the same size, the quan- 
tity of material in these cases being reduced to 30 and 20 bushels, 
respectively. 

During 1907 the plants with oyster shells were made April 16, 
May 21, and June 25, and a single plant of clam shells was deposited 
on JNIay 21. Thirty bushels of oyster shells were spread, each, on 
July 26. August 26, September 26, and October 29. 

In 1908 oyster shells were deposited broadcast and in piles on April 
20 and May 27. There were in all 25 plantings, and on every one ex- 
cepting that of October 29, 1908, a set of spat was secured before the 
end of the year in which the shells were deposited. The plants of 
April, May, and June, 1908, remained barren during the period in 
which the crevasse water was pouring over the beds, but after this 
was stopped and the water grew more salt a small set appeared on 
these shells, a larger one being prevented probably by the silt de- 
posited by the flood waters. 

The results demonstrated that under usual conditions a strike of 
young 03'sters is almost certain to occur upon shells or other cultch 
deposited between April 1 and October 1, a period of six months. 
Even in the case of the October plant the shells, notwithstanding 
their long exposure, were still in condition to receive a small set in 
the following spring. 

The proportion of shells to which young oysters attached within 
a month after they were planted varied from 40 to 90 per cent, those 
planted in May, June, and July being usually most effective as spat 
collectors. The shells spread broadcast were more efficacious than 
those deposited in piles, though the latter usuall}- became leveled by 
the waves after the lapse of a few months. The clam shells were 
less effective than (\yster shells, probably in part because, being 
lighter and smaller, manj^ of tliem were carried by currents and 
waves away from the squares on which they were planted. From 
1 to 5 young oj^sters were found attached to the oyster shells at the 
end of one year, the average being about 2 or 3 to each. At a later 
date the shells became more or less disintegrated and broken, result- 
ing in a natural culling which freed the ovsters from their attach- 
ment. After the lapse of a year most of the clam shells bore but 
single oysters, though there were occasionally two attached. 

The experiments indicate that from 400 to 600 bushels of shells 
per acre can be advantageously planted on firm or moderately firm 
bottom. On soft bottom more should be used, as some Avill be- 
come buried in the mud. Later, when there are more breeding 
oysters in the vicinity and the waters become more thoroughly 
charged with fry. the set on individual shells will become heavier 
and the quantity of material planted should be reduced to prevent 
overcrowding. If the set should become verv heavv clam shells or 



20 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 



broken oyster shells may prove advantageous, and it may prove 
good policy to cull the oysters at the end of the first eight or ten 
months so as to permit them to grow to good shape. At present this 
is unnecessary. In many cases the shells and debris culled off, if 
taken ashore and weathered, would suffice for planting other areas. 
The rate of growth of oysters attaching to oyster shells was more 
rapid than of those striking on clams, probably because they were 
raised higher above the bottom and therefore more favorably situated 
for obtaining a supply of food. This fact and the average sizes 
attained by the oysters at different ages are shown in the following 
table : 

AvKRAGE Length of Oysters Attached to Planted Shells at Different 
Ages (One to Thirty-three Months). 



Ages. 



On oyster 
shells. 



1 month . 

2 months 

3 months 
5 months 



Inches. 

0.4 

.5 

.7 

1.1 



On clam 
shells. 



Inches. 
0.4 



Ages. 



months 
12 months 
24 months 
33 months 



On oyster 
shells 



Inches. 
1.4 



3.5 
4.0 



On clam 
shells. 



Inches. 



2.2 
2.8 
3.25 



This table assumes the ages of the oysters to date from the time of 
planting the shells, but as the strike is ordinarily distributed over 
several months, the ages, excepting of the youngest, are somewhat 
overestimated. It will be observed that at the end of the first year 
the planted oyster shells bore oysters, whose average size was some- 
what above the minimum market limit, and many of them were be- 
tween 3 and ?A inches long. At 2 years of age they were between 3 
and 4 inches long and averaged 3^ inches, while in less than three 
years from the date of planting all of them were between 3^ and 5 
inches long and averaged about 4 inches. These oysters were all of 
fine shape, with rather heavy clean shells, and in small clusters or 
single, requiring very little culling to fit them for market. Those 
raised on clam shells, though of smaller size, were of particularly 
fine shape and all single. At an age of 33 months they ran from 500 
to 525 oysters to the barrel of 3^ bushels, while those grown on oyster 
shells rated between 425 and 450. 

During most of the period of the experiment all of these oysters 
were fat and in fine condition for the market, and in January, 1909, 
when the work was brought to a close, they were equal in fatness to 
the famous oysters of Lynnhaven, Va., and yielded about 5^ pints 
of thoroughly drained meat per standard bushel, which is equivalent 
to nearly T pints as measured at the shucking houses. The gi'eater 
thickness of the shells caused them to '' turn out " a smaller quantity 
of meats per bushel as compared with the thin shelled oysters of 



U. S. B. F.— Doc. /31, 



Plate III. 













>-. -As? 
















OYSTERS, AVERAGE SIZE, 24 AND 33 MONTHS OLD RESPECTIVELY, GROWN ON CLAM 

SHELLS AT BAYOU ST. DENIS, LOUISIANA. 

[Figures natural size.] 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 21 

FalsemoLitli 6^13% which they equaled or slightly excelled in fatness, 
but their superiority in appearance more than compensated for this. 
A clean, attractive-looking exterior is of importance in high-grade 
oysters used in the " counter " or " shell '" trade, the most lucrative 
market which the planter can supply. The authors have been in- 
formed that the oysters left on the experimental beds have been taken 
up by oystermen and sold for $2 per barrel in New Orleans at a 
time when ordinary oysters could hardly be disposed of. 

Unfortunately here, as at other of the experimental plants in the 
state, the authors were not able to make ultimate determinations of 
the productivity of the grounds, owing to the theft of most of the 
marketable oysters prior to the final examination. The average 
growth on the older sections of the planted beds in January, 190i), 
was but 140 bushels per acre, though examinations made in the pre- 
ceding May showed that in f)laces the density of the oysters was at 
the rate of between 1,500 and 2,000 United States standard bushels 
per acre, and a conservative estimate w^ould place the average for the 
entire area at between 1.000 and 1,500 bushels or 300 and 450 barrels 
per acre. 

BAY TAMBOUR. 

The work at Bay Tambour was coincident with that at Bayou St. 
Denis and the same methods were followed, but the experiment was 
abandoned so far as the planting of cultch was concerned at the end 
of June, 1907. 

The plant was located off the w^estern point of a small island lying- 
west of Bayou Andre, on the site of an extinct oyster bed, the only 
evidence of whose former existence is in the shells deeply buried in 
the mud. The currents are moderate, being perhaps of about half 
the strength of those at Bayou St. Denis. The water in the three 
years during which the observations were continued had an average 
specific gravity of 1.0140 and a range between 1.010 and 1.020. This 
salinity is considerably higher than at Bayou St. Denis, but, con- 
sidering the requirements of the oyster only, is w^ell adapted to 
oyster culture. Residents stated, prior to the beginning of the ex- 
periment, that the water at this place killed oysters, but, as is shown 
by the investigations hereafter recounted, this is an error, the mor- 
tality among the young oysters being due to another cause, although 
indirectly attributable to the relative saltness of the water as com- 
pared with more northerly parts of the bay. At this locality there 
is very little probability of loss from the effects of crevasses or from 
sudden and drastic changes in the saltness of the water from any 
cause. 

The bottom in the innnediate vicinity of the plantation is hard, 
but much of that adjoining is soft, though a considerable area could 
be utilized for oyster culture. 



22 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 



Food i.s abniiclantly produced in the waters of the vicinity, and 
although there is considerable fluctuation in the supply, the average 
of a number of observations made on the planted grounds is higher 
than Avas attained in most parts of the state. The food production 
in the adjacent parts of Barataria Ba}' is very high, and there would 
therefore appear to be an abundant reserve supply. The seed oysters, 
originally planted as brood stock, Avhich were rough and unculled as 
taken from the reefs, about 2| inches long, and planted at the rate of 
about 800 bushels per acre, grew rapidly and were always fat and in 
good condition. The various observations of the salinities, tempera- 
tures, and food production of the w^ater are shown in the following 
table : 



Food Content, Specific Gravity, and Temperature of Water in Bay Tambour. 



Date. 


Specific 
gravity. 


Temper- 
ature. 


Food organises per 
liter of water. 




Number. 


Volume. 


1906. 


1.0117 
1. 0102 
1.0129 
1.0124 
1.0106 
1.0107 
1.0195 
1.0191 

1.0170 
1.0203 
1.0175 
1.0158 
1.0097 
1.0113 
1.0136 
1.0131 

1.0141 
1.0100 

1.0172 


" F. 
74.3 
77.9 
81.5 
86.0 
78.8 
77.0 
85 
75 

08 

78 

80 

80.6 

80.6 

84.2 

86 

53 

77 
81 

68 


16,000 
15,500 
11,000 
7,000 
7,500 
5,000 
9,000 
5,400 

2,000 
6,750 

10, 800 
8.100 
6,000 
7.200 

10, 200 
1,500 

35,000 
8,100 

21,750 


Cu. mm. 
0.313 


27 


.329 


May 26 


.262 


28 


.206 


June 27 - - 


.118 


29 


. 00.0 




.240 




.185 


1907. 


.018 


April 17 


.220 


19 


. 689 


30 


.376 


May 22 


.173 


June 26 


.181 


July 24 


.420 




.081 


1908. 
May 4 


..S07 


jnly 3 


.259 


1909. 


. 673 








1.0146 




10,200 .295 









About no barrels of rough unculled oysters from the natural betls 
were planted in January, 190G, and in the latter part of the follow- 
ing April oyster and clam shells were planted after the manner of 
those deposited at Bayou St. Denis, followed by two similar plants 
in the latter parts of May and June, respectively. In all these the 
apparent set of spat was light, the number of shells bearing young 
oysters ranging between 15 and 35 per cent of those examined, the 
aA^erage of all plants being about 22 per cent. By the following 
spring all of these young oysters had disappeared. The results of 
the second year's experiments were even more unfavorable, and 
spat transplanted from Bayou St. Denis were also killed within a 
fcAv weeks. 



U. S. B. F.— Doc. 731. 



Plate IV. 










--■^■-••\ 



/ 




7^ 



V 



<r 




BORERS, OR "SNAILS" (PURPURA H/EMOSTOMA), THEIR EGG CASES, AND OYSTER SPAT 

DRILLED BY THEM. BAY TAMBOUR, LOUISIANA. 

[Figures natural .size.] 



OYSTEE CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 23 

It was observed that the few upper valves still adherent to the 
shells were perforated by small holes, and as the gasteropod Purpura^ 
locally known as the " borer " or "■ snail," was abundant on the stakes 
marking the beds it was at once suspected to be the cause of the 
mortality. To test this hypothesis three boxes were constructed of 
one-fourth inch wire screening and planted on the beds on April 17, 
1907; one, closed, containing both shells and borers; one, closed, con- 
taining shells alone ; and the third, open, with shells only. On June 
26 the contents of the boxes were examined with the following results : 
In the open box 18 per cent of the shells bore spat, of which several 
were dead, and there were 5 borers besides several fishes and crabs. 
In the closed box, containing shells and 12 borers, but 2 per cent of 
the shells bore live spat, and these were concealed either under the 
shells or by marine growths. In the closed box without borers 60 
per cent of the shells bore live spat, averaging two to the shell. This 
box contained when taken up 14 very small borers which had evi- 
dently entered through the mesh. 

On June 26 two closed boxes were planted, one with clean shells 
and 9 large borers, and the other containing shells bearing spat from 
one-half to three-fourths inch long, but with no borers. AVhen 
taken up on September 1 the shells in the first box were devoid of 
spat of appreciable size, the large borers were dead, and there were 
no small ones. In the other box there were 17 live borers between 
three-eighths and 1| inches long which must have crawled through 
the mesh when quite small ; there were no dead borers, but 2 per cent 
of the spat had survived and all of the upper valves remaining 
attached showed the small perforation made by this enemy. 

The brood oysters planted in January, 1906, when they were be- 
tween 2 and 3 : iches long, at no time showed any greater mortality 
than was to be expected from the mere act of transplanting, and this 
fact in connection with the experiments just recounted shows without 
much doubt that the failure to obtain results from planting shells 
was due, not to the quality of the water, per se, but to the destructive 
habits of the borer. The largest spat killed was less than 1:^ inches 
in length, and it is safe to assume that seed oysters 2 inches long 
and probably as small as 1^ inches will be immune. 

The borers lay their eggs in red or purple leathery capsules about 
one-half inch long, attached in dense clusters to shells, stakes, and 
other fixed bodies in the water. The capsules are demicylinders, 
usually more or less curved toward the convex surface and with 
flattened or slightly convex free ends. Each capsule contains several 
eggs and the young snails escape through holes less than one-fiftieth 
of an inch in diameter, which they cut in the free end of the capsule. 
34455—10 4 



24 OYSTEE CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 

These recently-hatched borers probably feed upon the very minute 
and newly-attached spat, though of this we have no certain knowl- 
edge. Growth is rapid, as is shown b}^ the experiments with boxes. 
The mesh emploj^ed in these was one-fourth inch square, and the 
largest borer that could be pushed through measured seven-sixteenths 
of an inch in length. In closed boxes planted June 28 there were 
borers three-fourths to I5 inches long on September 1, an increase of 
from 75 to 190 per cent in length and of from 200 to 450 per cent in 
bulk within a period of about two months. 

The difficulties in fighting a small and insidious enemy such as 
this are very considerable. It is wholly impracticable to inclose the 
beds, as is done to jjrevent the inroads of drumfish and similar 
enemies, the little snails being able to travel through the finest prac- 
ticable mesh, and the only recourse is to wage unceasing warfare by 
destroying all borers and e^"g cases found. To tong or dredge the 
oysters especially for this purpose is commercially impracticable 
under the market conditions obtaining in Louisiana, and the obvious 
course for the oyster culturist in the more salt waters in which the 
borer abounds is to eschew all eflort at j)lanting shells and confine 
his activities to planting seed oysters at least IJ inches and preferably 
not less than 2 inches long. If he does this the presence of this 
enemy may even prove a boon in preventing the excessive attachment 
of spat to the older oysters, an occurrence which in some places on 
our coasts renders it impossible to grow oysters fit for market. 

As to the rate of growth of oysters in the earlier stages at Bay 
Tambour little can be said for reasons which are apparent. The 
growth of the seed oysters planted at the beginning of the experi- 
ment was very satisfactory. In April, 1906, measurements of the 
length of a number of these averaged 2.6 inches. In June, 1907, the 
average length was a little less than 4 inches, and in May, 1908, it 
was about 5 inches. In less than two years, therefore, these oysters 
doubled in length, and despite the fact that they were not culled, the 
clusters automatically broke apart to some extent, owing to the dis- 
integration of the shells to which they were attached, and there was 
a corresponding improvement in shape. The growth here was about 
the same as at Bayou St. Denis, and indicates that however unsuit- 
able this part of the bay may be for spat culture, owing to the rea- 
sons before set forth, there is an excellent opportunity for the estab- 
lishment of an important and profitable industry in growing oysters 
from seed. 

The results attained by the work at Bay Tambour are applicable 
to all of that half of Barataria Bay lying nearer the gulf, our investi- 
gations having shown the conditions to be essentially similar through- 
out that region. During the last year or two of the experiments a 



U. S. B. F.— Doc. 731. 



Plate V. 



df 










^j!*^r r^^- 













-,-i-W'-'-s^^ '"■' 









%^ 





OYSTER, AVERAGE SIZE, GROWN IN 29 MONTHS FROM SEED ABOUT 2i INCHES LONG. 
BAY TAMBOUR, LOUISIANA. 

[Figure natural size.] 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 25 

considerable area of bottom atrs taken up by planters in this region 
and most of the oysters shipped during the oyster season 1908-9 
were grown on these leaseholds. It is understood that the business 
was very profitable and that the supply of Barataria oysters, despite 
their lack of previous reputation, Avas unequal to the demand. They 
were all contracted for at a price equivalent to $1.60 per barrel on 
the beds and could have commanded a higher price in the open 
market. It is the opinion of the authors that they are among the 
best produced on our entire coast. 

ST. BERNARD PARISH. 

St. Bernard Parish embraces the most productive natural oyster 
region in Louisiana and at the present time produces about 40 per 
cent of the total yield of the state. Its oyster beds lie principally 
in what is known as the " Louisiana marshes," a low uninhabited 
expanse of sea marsh and prairie covering an area of between 400 
and 500 square miles between Mississippi, Chandeleur, and Isle au 
Breton sounds. This region is cut up into innumerable islands by 
an intricate system of bays and bayous, most of which contain natural 
oyster beds, described and platted in some detail in the report of the 
investigations in 1898, previously alluded to. 

In the season of 1906-7 St. Bernard Parish produced upward of 
1,000,000 bushels of oysters, but in the folloAving season the produc- 
tion was somewhat smaller. Although there have been some attempts 
at oyster culture and there are extensive leaseholds, most of these 
oysters came from the natural beds. 

In 1898 there were no leases of bottom in this region and few were 
granted prior to 1904, when what was practically^ the present oyster 
law went into operation. In the next five years 66 leases were issued, 
and in 1908 there were in force 48 leases, aggregating 5,395 acres, of 
which 44 leases and 4,456 acres were in the Louisiana marsh and 4 
leases and 939 acres in Lake Borgne. 

Many of the leases are for plots less than 20 acres in extent, but 9 
individuals, firms, and corporations have holdings of between 100 
and 1,000 acres each, covered by 25 leases aggregating 4,858 acres. 
These have been planted in part with seed oysters and shells, but the 
business has not yet proved very profitable owing mainly to the fact 
that the set of spat has been so heaA'y as to cause overcrowding of 
the beds with the consequent failure of the oysters to fatten and grow 
to good shape. 

The salinity of the water varies considerably in the several parts 
of the region under discussion, being as a rule lower in Lake Borgne 
and the waters closer to Mississippi Sound and higher toward Chan- 
deleur Sound and the southern part of the parish. This is shoAvn in 



26 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 



the following table of the siDecific gravities observed during four 
calendar years: 

Specific Gravity Observations in Waters of St. Bernard Parish. 



Locality. 



Lake Borgne 

Falsemouth Bay 
Three-mile Bay. 
Treasure Bay... 
Big Mussel Bay. 

Eloi Bay 

Saw Bay 

Blind Bay 

Caligo Bay 



1.00G8 
1.007-1 
1.0070 
1.0100 
1.0119 
1.0125 
1. 0107 
1.0193 
1. 0200 



1.0041 
1.0058 
1.0054 
1. 0090 
1.0113 
1. 0150 
1. 0155 
1.0102 
1.0102 



1908. 



1.0010 
1.0041 



1.0051 
1.0075 
1. 0083 
1.0125 
1.0128 



1.0159 
1.0170 
1. 0159 



In the northern localities the water is rather too fresh to produce 
jDalatable oysters for shell stock, though this does not affect their 
utility for shucking and canning purposes. In this region, as a 
whole, oyster food is abundant, a large number of observations indi- 
cating that it is about equal in this respect to that part of Placque- 
mines Parish adjoining it, east of the river, and only exceeded by 
the waters of Barataria Bay. It is considerably richer than either 
Terrebonne Parish or that part of Placquemines Parish, as a whole, 
lying about Bay Adam, Bayou Cook, and Bastien Bay. The richest 
waters are Falsemouth Bay and Treasure Bay and the poorest those 
lying near Three-mile Bayou. 

The depth of Avater ranges generally from 3 to 6 feet in the bays, 
but is often much deeper in the bayous. The bottoms are generally 
soft, in many places too soft to be used for oyster culture without 
special preparation, but there are also considerable areas of hard or 
moderately hard mud. Even the softest places may be made avail- 
able by strewing them with shells, sand, or gravel, but there is un- 
doubtedly enough naturally suitable bottom to make this unnecessary 
for some time to come. 

For experimental purposes in this region there were selected two 
localities not far apart but differing in all factors involved except- 
ing that of' salinity. The localities, the experiments, and the results 
are described in the following: 



FALSEMOL'TH BAY. 

Falsemouth Bay lies in the northwestern part of the Louisiana 
marsh and communicates with Mississippi Sound by means of Nine- 
mile Bayou, a channel from 100 to 300 yards in width, and with an 
average depth of about 24 feet. A smaller, though deep, bayou 
leads to Nine-mile Bay to the eastward, and there is wide communi- 
cation at the southeast end with the lower part of Nine-mile Bay 
and the upper part of Treasure Bay. 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 27 

Writing in 1898 one of the authors said : 

It seems probable that the scarcity of oysters in Falsemouth Bay is due in 
large part to the lack of suitable places of attachment for the spat, and if this be 
so there is but little doubt that productive beds might be established by plant- 
ing shells, together with a sufiieient number of brood oysters to furnish fry. 
We found here the largest area of firm bottom discovered anywhere within the 
limits of the reconnoissance. In most other parts of the district the hard 
bottom is distributed in small patches lying like islands in the midst of soft 
mud, but in Falsemouth Bay shells and seed could be deposited almost any- 
where without danger of becoming engulfed. The amount of oyster food is 
larger than almost anywhere else in the district, the average number of 
diatoms in each liter of water 1 foot above the bottom being about 22,000. 
The extreme fatness of the oysters is also ample evidence of the abundance of 
food, although, of course, the amount available for each individual would 
become less if planting were extensively undertaken. 

Although, as previously stated, considerable areas of bottom have 
been leased in contiguous and neighboring waters, the recommenda- 
tions just quoted have borne no fruit, and it was with the purpose of 
testing their validity that experiments were undertalcen at this 
place. 

"^The site selected for the experimental work was in a small bight 
in the northeastern part of the bay, about one-third of a mile from 
the mouth of a deep cut-off running into Nine-mile Bayou. The 
water has a depth of about 3^ feet at low tide. 

Pirate Point on one side and a chain of several small islands on 
the other form a somewhat funnel-shaped area with its small end 
opening into Nine-mile Bayou and its large end communicating with 
Treasure Bay and the Avaters to the eastward. The tidal flow enter- 
ing and leaving the interior waters in large part passes through this 
area, and, as the bayou communicating with Mississippi Sound is 
wide and deep, the currents, especially in the northern part, where 
the plantation is located, are moderately strong and constant. 
Measurements on the planted beds indicate a current of about one- 
half mile per hour on moderate tides, and observation showed the 
rate to be approximately uniform over an area of several thousand 
acres in this vicinity and probably over the entire eastern part of 
the bay. The importance of this fact need not be indicated to prac- 
tical oyster planters. 

The salinity of the water is comparatively low, rendering the oys- 
ters rather insipid when used as "shell stock," but not interfering 
with their value for the shucking trade. During the spring and 
summer of 1908 the water was nearly fresh, its specific gravity rang- 
ing about 1.0020, but at all other times during the experiment it was 
somewhat higher, fluctuating between 1.0030 and 1,0092, with an 
average of 1.0056 for the entire period and about 1.0070 in the 
oyster season. During the three years of the investigation there was 



28 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 



nothing to indicate any mortality among the oysters due to the low 
salinity of the water. 

The floor of Falsemouth Bay is level and clean of all rubbish and 
debris. The bottom is quite uniformly composed of hard mud, much 
like that of the surrounding land, though there are occasional small 
patches of softer consistence. The bay has an area of about 11 
square miles, and over practically all of it oysters and shells may 
be planted without danger of being engulfed. There are not now, 
nor, apparently, have there ever been, any natural reefs, and the 
few very scattering oyster growths observed in 1898 seem to have 
been exterminated. 

In oyster food Falsemouth Bay was found to be one of the richest 
places in Louisiana in 1898, and the results of the present examination 
show that it retains this rank. The average oyster-food content of 
its waters from May, 1906, to January, 1909, was higher than that 
of any other locality observed, excepting only the middle of Bara- 
taria Bay. Falsemouth Bay and Bayou St. Denis, in Jefferson Par- 
ish, were about on an equality. The following table shows the 
fluctuations in the observed food supply, together with the specific 
gravities and temperatures of the water at various times during the 
course of the experiments : 

Food Content, Specific Gravity, and Temperature of Water in Falsemouth 

Bay. 





Date. 


Density. 


Temper- 
ature. 


Food organisms per 
liter of water. 




Nmnber. 


^'olume. 


May 9 


1906. 


1.0092 
1.0064 
1.0066 

1. 0084 
1.0059 
1.00,30 
1.0028 
1.0079 
1.0070 

1.0020 
l.t)0.30 
1. 0029 

1.0075 


°F. 
72.5 
86.0 
82.0 

04. 
72.0 
77.0 
84.2 
87.8 
54.5 

79.0 
87.0 
85.0 

64.4 


38,000 
5,500 
8,000 

4,000 
9,000 
14, 400 
7,200 
2.500 
5,400 

7,200 
3.750 
7,500 

4.800 


Cu. mm. 
1.594 


June 10 ■ 


.201 


July 17 - 


.216 




1907. 


.094 


\pril 12 


.316 




.436 




.291 




.067 




.226 


April 23 


190S. 


.372 




.173 


July 12 


.346 




1909. 


.119 










1.0056 




9, 020 . 342 











Xo oyster enemies whatever were observed in this locality. The 
water is too fresh for the borer ever to become troublesome, but the 
drumfish, which operates in water of all degrees of saltness, might 
make occasional foravs if ovsters Avere numerous enough to be attract- 



U. S. B. F.— Doc. 731 



Plate VI. 





OYSTERS, AVERAGE SIZE, 1 YEAR OLD, GROWN ON OYSTER SHELLS AT FALSEMOUTH BAY 
LOUISIANA. THE UPPER FIGURE SHOWS THE CHARACTERISTIC DEEP CUP 

[Figures luitural size.] 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 29 

ive. There were a few mussels and barnacles attached to the planted 
oysters, but they were not abundant enough to be troublesome. 

The experiments in Falsemouth Bay began on May 6, 1906, and 
subsequent plantings were made on June 10 and July 17, 1906; April 
12, May 16, June 9, and July 7, 1907, and April 23 and June 5, 1908. 
The final examination was made on January 23 and 24, 1909. In 
all, 11: plantings were made, of which 2 were of clam shells, both 
whole and broken, spread broadcast, 9 were of oyster shells, broadcast, 
and 2 of oyster shells in piles. 

The quantity of oyster shells jDlanted varied from 200 to 1,000 
bushels to the acre and the clam shells from 200 to 600 bushels per 
acre. The clam shells, which were hardly more than 1^ inches in 
diameter, were obtained from neighboring shell banks, and many 
of them were fragmented by wave action. On the whole they did 
not prove satisfactory, the entire shells being scattered by the waves 
and the fragments soon becoming so covered with silt and mud that 
they offered very imperfect places for the attachment of the oyster 
spat. The oysters produced on these shells were all single and of 
fine shape, but, as was also observed at Bayou St, Denis, they grew 
more slowly than those attached to oyster shells. If somewhat larger 
and heavier clam shells can be conveniently obtained, the}^ would 
doubtless make excellent cultch, but the use of the local supply can 
not be recommended, except for the purpose of hardening the small 
areas of soft bottom which occasionally occur in the bay. 

From 60 to 90 per cent of the oj^ster shells were found to bear small 
oysters at the end of the season in which they were planted, the spat 
striking in e^'ery month from April 11 to July 17. Doubtless shells 
planted a month earlier and a month or two later would prove as 
effective as in Barataria Bay, but there is no positive evidence of the 
fact in this locality. The average number of oysters attached at 
the end of the season, after they had attained a length of 1 to 2 
inches, was from two to three per shell, there being some larger clus- 
ters and a good proportion of single oysters. 

The set was much lighter than in the adjacent waters of Three- 
mile Bayou, owing undoubtedly to the relative remoteness of con- 
siderable beds of spawning oysters. This is of considerable advan- 
tage in avoiding crowding of the growing oA^sters and promoting a 
better shape and condition. Should the bay be used extensively for 
planting shells it will probably be found that the set will be much 
heavier than now occurs, and to secure the best results it may be 
necessary to break up the larger clusters produced so as to give the 
individual oysters room to grow and fatten. Under the present con- 
ditions from 400 to 500 bushels of cultch per acre appears to be the 
best quantity to plant, but with any heavy increase in the number of 



30 OYSTEE CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 

sj)awning oysters in the vicinit}^, as from extensive planting opera- 
tions, this quantity may probably be advantageously reduced. 

The yield per acre of the planted beds could not be determined, as 
prior to the final examination the oysters proved too attractive to 
the tongers, and most of the plantation was despoiled of both oysters 
and shells. Certain small areas Avhich had been overlooked by the 
marauders, however, indicated that the growth on some sections at 
the end of about thirty months from the time the shells were planted 
was probably between 1,000 and 1,500 United States standard 
bushels per acre. The oysters were of good shape and very fat. 
Those grown on oyster shells were from 3f to 4|^ inches long and 
averaged about 200 to the bushel, Avhile those on clam shells were of 
even finer shape and averaged about 3 inches in length. The shells 
were rather thin, but somewhat thicker in the clam-shell set than 
on that attached to the oyster shells, in the former consituting TO per 
cent of the total volume of the unopened oyster, and in the latter 55 
per cent. The oyster-shell set averaged about 200 oysters to the 
standard bushel, considerably more than oysters of the same length 
at Bayou St. Denis, the difference being due to the much thicker, 
heavier shells of the latter. These oysters, taken " the run of the 
bed," without selection, shucked slightly over 7 pints of completely 
drained meats per standard bushel. The single oysters grown on 
clam shells were relatively fatter, but owing to their thicker shells 
would " turn out " no more meat per bushel. 

Taking all factors into consideration, Falsemouth Bay appears to 
possess very great advantages for planting operations on a large 
scale in connection with the shucking trade, but the salinity is too 
low and the shells are rather too thin, excepting those grown on clam 
shells, for raising " shell stock " or " counter " oysters. 

The bottom is almost everywhere firm enough for planting, the 
rate of growth is rapid, the shape of the oysters is good, and the 
relatively thin shells, taken in connection with the plumpness of the 
meats, insures a large yield of shucked oysters per bushel, effecting 
economy in transportation and opening. The meats are also attrac' 
five in appearance and should command a good price as " extra 
selects." 

The only drawback is that the shells are in some cases rather brit- 
tle and may break in opening, but this defect is more than counter- 
balanced by the large quantity of meats "turned out " per bushel. 

Either seed oysters from the natural reefs or cultch may be planted 
to advantage. In the latter case it is not unlikely that, if a consid- 
erable part of the bay is converted into oyster bottom, the set of spat 
may be so heavy as to require the clusters to be broken up at the end 
of the first season's growth. 



U. S. B. F.— Doc. 731. 



Plate VII. 




OYSTER, AVERAGE SIZE, 33 MONTHS OLD, GROWN ON OYSTER SHELL 
AT FALSEMOUTH BAY, LOUISIANA. 

[Figure natural size.] 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 31 

It is believed that over n large part of the bay the bottom is suffi- 
ciently, firm to permit the use of light dredges on the planted beds. 
In water so shallow as that in Falsemouth Bay the dredge, as com- 
pared with tongs, is not so economical as in deeper water, but it is 
believed that it would be cheaper to operate in case of a scarcity of 
labor. 

In Falsemouth Bay, as everywhere else, however, there is a limit 
to the quantity of good oysters that can be produced, and should 
the planting industry be established there care should be exercised 
that neither the density of growth nor the area planted should be- 
come excessive. The desire of persons already established to grow- 
as many oysters as possible on a given area, and the equally strong 
desire of prospective planters to establish themselves in places 
where others have been successful has more than once brought diffi- 
culties to all. 

THREE-MILE AND NINE-MILE BAYS. 

Three-mile Bay and its contiguous waters constitute the most im- 
portant oyster region of St. Bernard Parish. Three-mile Bayou 
is a broad, deep passage connecting Mississippi Sound with the inte- 
rior of the Louisiana marsh, and the vessels engaged in carrying oys- 
ters to the oyster houses and canneries on the mainland lie in the 
sheltered waters at its inner end to receive the cargoes brought there 
by the luggers engaged in oystering in the adjacent bays and ba3^ous. 

In 1905 a large shucking house was erected on the shores of this 
bay, with the purpose of avoiding the transportation of the bulky, 
unshucked oysters to the mainland and the return of the shells for 
planting on the large area which the operating company had leased 
for that purpose in the waters adjacent to the establishment. Owing 
to the difficulty of obtaining employees to work in a locality so re- 
mote from settlement, and perhaps to other causes not stated, this 
establishment Avas soon abandoned. In addition to the bottom held 
by this company there are several thousand acres under lease in this 
vicinity and practically all of the leases issued in St. Bernard Parish 
are in these or immediately adjacent waters. 

It is an interesting observation that these planters have overlooked 
the advantages of the near-by bottoms in Falsemouth J^aj to take up 
areas which are in almost every respect inferior, this action being 
dictated by the existence of natural beds in the one region and their 
absence in the other. The fact has been overlooked that the presence 
or absence of oysters is in many cases conditioned solely b}- the pres- 
ence or absence of clean, firm bodies to which the young may attach. 
Oyster culture in this region has consisted partly of planting seed 



32 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 

oysters from the natural beds, but largely in the deposit of shells, 
neither having as yet proved very profitable for reasons which were 
developed by the result of the Bureau's experiments. 

The experimental plantation was located about one-third mile 
west of Shell Point, practically on the border line between Three- 
mile and Nine-mile bays, though rather in the latter than in the 
former. It is about 2^ miles in a straight line from the Falsemouth 
Bay plantation, though tlie water route between the two, owing to 
the interposition of Pirate Point Island, is over 4 miles. South 
Bayou, a shallow body of water with sluggish currents, opens through 
the shore line about one-fourth mile distant. Between the plantation 
and Raccoon Island there is a scattering natural growth of oysters 
of fairly good shape and quality. The water at the plantation is 
about 3^ feet deep, gradually shelving to 5 and 6^ feet toward the 
middle of the bay. 

Tidal waters enter the bay from Nine-mile and Three-mile bayous, 
flood tides meeting and ebb tides dividing near the plantation, and 
as the flow through South Bayou is insignificant the currents in this 
particular region are sluggish. The conditions in this respect are 
better in both directions along shore, and in Nine-mile Bay near the 
entrance to the eastern fork of Nine-mile Bayou and in most of Three- 
mile Bay proper the water flows with fair velocity. 

The salinity of the water during the period of the experiments was 
approximately the same as in Falsemouth Bay, the specific gravity 
ranging from 1.0028 to 1.0088, with an average for all observations 
of 1.005T. The average salinity of the waters of Three-mile Bay 
proper is somewhat higher, the specific gravity off Shell Point aver- 
aging about 1.0076. The average during the oyster season was 
slightly less. The significance of this comparative freshness of the 
water in its effect upon the flavor of the oyster and the occurrence of 
enemies has been mentioned in connection with the description of 
Falsemouth Bay. 

Away from the immediate vicinity of the shore the depth of water 
in Three-mile and Nine-mile bays is between 4 and 6 feet, with some- 
what shoaler spots on some of the dense, natural reefs. The bottom 
on the plantation is composed of moderately soft mud, which grows 
softer offshore, though its consistency is such as to permit the success- 
ful planting of shells over a considerable area. 

The supply of oyster food in Nine-mile and Three-mile bays is 
comparatively low, on the plantation averaging but about one-half 
the quantity per unit of water found in Falsemouth Bay. Farther 
to the eastward, off Shell Point, the quantity is somewhat greater, 
and to the southward the quantity increases from the mouth of 
Falsemouth Bav to Treasure Bay. where the waters are approxi- 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS TX LOUISIANA. 



33 



mately as rich as on the Falsemouth Bay phintation or at Bayou St. 
Denis, in Jefferson Parish. 

The following table exhibits the observed data in respect to the 
oyster food supply, the specific gravities, and the temperatures of 
the water at the plantation : 

Food Content, Specific Gravity, and Temperature of Water in Three-mile 

AND Nine-mile Bays. 



Date. 



Specific 
gravity. 



Tempera- 
ture. 



Food organisms per 
liter of water. 



Number. Volume. 



1900 

May 8 

9 

June 9 

July 17 

1907 

January 5 

April 12 

May 15 

16 

June 9 

July 7 

December 13 

1908 

June 5 

July 12 

1909 
January 23 

Average 



1.0054 
1.0005 
1.0082 
1.0080 



1.0088 
1.0077 
1. 0057 
1.0038 
1.0028 
1.0090 
1.0071 



1.0040 
1.0042 



1.0083 



' F. 
73.4 
72.5 
86.0 
a3.0 



05.0 
75.0 
75.2 
68.0 
84.2 
84.2 
55.0 



87.0 
84.0 



68.0 



Cm. mm. 



11,000 
3,500 
6,000 



2,500 
7,800 
8,250 
7,000 
4,500 
2,500 
4,500 



750 
4,500 



11,000 



5,271 



0.290 
.078 
.060 



.053 
.203 
.307 
.282 
.210 
.037 
.238 



.040 
.1.37 



.384 
.177 



During the investigations of 1898 a few borers were found in 
Three-mile and Xine-mile bays, but none were observed during the 
experiments here dealt with, and it is probable that they are never 
destructive owing to the prevailing low salinity of the water. There 
were, however, man}^ mussels attached to the oyster clusters, and in 
some cases they undoubtedly interfered materially with the growth 
of the oysters and seriously curtailed their food supply. 

The site for the experiment was selected partly for the sake of 
comparison with the Avork in Falsemouth Bay, and partly because it 
was located on leased bottom and under the care of a watchman. 
The plantings were made practically^ synchronously with those in 
Falsemouth Bay. and in essentially the same manner excepting that 
no clam shells were used. The first plant was made on May 8, 1906, 
and others followed on June 9 and July IG, 1906; April 12^ May 15, 
June 9, and July 7, 1907, and on April 23 and June 6, 1908. In all, 
1() plantings were made, of which in 11 cases the shells were spread 
broadcast, and in 5 cases in heaps of from one-half to 1 bushel each. 
As in Falsemouth Bay, the quantity of shells varied from 200 to 
1,000 bushels per acre. 



34 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS JN LOUISIANA. 

The strike was much heavier than in Falsemoiith Bay, a phenom- 
enon correlated with the greater number of breeding oysters in the 
vicinity and the consequent more general and copious distribution of 
the free-swimming young oysters. During the first year about 95 
per cent of the shells tonged up after the lapse of a few months bore 
spat, and the average number of young ovsters was C or 7 to the 
shell, but after the lapse of the first year the number of oysters per 
shell had decreased somewhat. In the second year the number of 
shells receiving a strike was about the same, but there were fewer 
spat per shell. In the first year the clusters were composed of from 
1 to 11 individuals, and in the second year of from 1 to 7 or 8. 

Considering the density of the set in these waters the experiments 
indicate that the shells should not be planted in greater quantities 
than from 200 to 400 bushels per acre, though on the softer bottoms, 
where some of the cultch will sink in the mud, the quantity may be 
increased with advantage to perhaps 500 bushels. On the bottom 
experimented with there was apparently no advantage in depositing 
the shells in piles and, in fact, the more evenly they are distributed, 
the less the chance that the oysters will become so massed as to inter- 
fere with their growth and nutrition. 

The yield per acre at the end of the thirty-two months was about 
1,500 standard bushels of culled oysters, with about an equal amount 
of shells, fragments, and mussels. The oysters were badly clustered 
and the debris was made up largely of those which had died from 
overcrowding. They were long, narrow, thin-shelled, and in general 
of the type known to the oyster men as " coony " or raccoon oysters- 

These oysters were about 2f inches long at the end of eleven months, 
3| inches in twenty months, and from 4 to 5 inches, with an average 
of about 4^ inches, at the end of thirty-two months. Although they 
Avere longer than those of corresponding age raised in Falsemouth 
Bay, they were so narrow and flat that the latter were over 50 per 
cent more bulky in specimens of the same length. The volume of the 
shells in both cases bore about the same relation to the total volume, 
and the difference was solely in the deeper and more capacious cavity 
of the Falsemouth Bay oysters, which is correlated Avith the volume 
of the meats. 

By actual count tlie 32-months-old oysters raised on this plan- 
tation averaged about 240 to the standard bushel and they turned 
out about 3-i- and 4 pints of drained meats per bushel, approxi- 
mately half the quantity yielded by a bushel of Falsemouth Bay 
plants. This extremely low yield for such thin-shelled oysters 
Avas due in part to the small size of the cavity, but also largely to 
their extremely poor condition as regards fatness. The experiment 
was tried of culling the oysters on half of one section of the planta- 



U. S. B. F.— Doc. 731. 



Plate VIII. 




OYSTERS, AVERAGE SIZE, 33 MONTHS OLD, GROWN ON OYSTER SHELLS AT 
THREE-MILE BAY, LOUISIANA. 

[Figure natural size.] 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 35 

tion one year after the shells were planted and it was fonnd that these 
oysters, broken in small clusters, improved somewhat in shape and 
yielded a larger return of meats per bushel, though they were not 
any fatter than the unculled oysters on the adjoining bottom. 

Owing to their shape, clustering, and poor condition, the oysters 
raised at this place were useless except for steaming. Planted oysters 
in other parts of the bay were found to be almost as poor in most 
respects, although perhaps a little fatter. These results are un- 
doubtedly due in part to the croAvding of the oysters, and for that 
reason the breaking up of the clusters at the end of about nine or ten 
months would be advantageous, but more important factors are the 
sluggish currents in the places more remote from the discharges into 
Mississippi Sound and the general paucit}' of the microscopic life on 
which the oysters feed. 

So far as we have been able to learn the natural oysters in Three- 
mile Bay and immediately adjacent waters are never more than 
moderately fat and are often poor as measured by what is attained 
elsewhere, and it is evident that if oyster culture in this region is to 
be successful it must be prosecuted with caution. Care must be exer- 
cised to locate the planted beds in those places where the currents are 
strongest, as in the waters near Three-mile Bayou and the eastern 
fork of Nine-mile Bayou. Oysters and shells should be planted 
rather sparsely and effort made to prevent the formation of large 
clusters, or if the}^ are formed they should be broken up as soon as 
the individuals attain a size and strength of shell to permit culling. 

Not only must an excessive density of oyster growth be guarded 
against but the total area planted should not be allowed to become so 
great as to overtax the powers of the water to produce food organ- 
isms. The authors do not regard this locality as a very promising 
field for oyster culture, though, undoubtedly, large quantities of 
oysters of rather poor quality can be produced. It may be that the 
place will prove valuable for the raising of seed oysters for transport 
to localities more favorable for fattening. 

TERREBONNE PARISH. 

Terrebonne Parish includes practically the whole oyster-producing 
region between Barataria Bay and the mouth of the Atchafalaya 
River, the product of Lafourche Parish, which adjoins the west side 
of Jefferson Parish, being insignificant. Several large bodies of 
water, the western part of Timbalier Bay, Terrebonne Bay, locally 
known as Cat Island or Wine Island Lake, Lake Pelto, Lake Barre, 
and Lake Felicity, are included within the limits of the parish, 
and there are numerous smaller bays, lakes, and bayous which now 
yield or have yielded oysters. The parish is the westernmost in 



36 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS TN LOUISIANA. 

which good oysters are i)ro(hiced in consi(lera!)le (luaiitities, the beds 
in Iberia and St. Mary parishes furnishing oysters of low grade, 
few of which are useful for purposes other than steaming. In the 
oyster season of l!)0(')-7 Terrebonne Parish produced about 100,000 
bushels of oysters, and in the following season approximately 300,000 
bushels, the increase being due to the beginning of productiveness of 
several extensive leaseholds. 

Ill ISDT, 353,000 bushels of oysters were produced in the parish, 
practically all of which came from the natural beds. Mr. L. R. 
Gary " states that many of the productive natural beds examined by 
the senior author in 1808 had been almost obliterated in 1007, and 
that the greater part of the oysters produced in the parish in the 
latter year were derived from planted beds. 

In 1808 there were in effect in this parish but 3-2 leases, the 
aggregate area of which could not, legally, have been in excess of 
320 acres, and in reality w^as probably less. In 1908 there were in 
force about 430 leases, aggregating about G.OOO acres. Most of these 
were for parcels of less than 20 acres, but there were several holdings 
of between 100 and 1.000 acres. The recent tendency has been for 
the large leaseholders to surrender parts of their bottom, retaining 
such portions only as experience has indicated to be the most suitable 
and profitable for oyster culture. 

The methods of culture followed usually have not been such as to 
produce the best grade of oysters. Very feAv shells are planted and 
the seed obtained from the natural beds is usually planted without 
culling, the residt being that the oysters grow in large clusters to 
the serious detriment of their shape and nutrition. If care were 
exercised to break up the clusters properly into smaller ones or 
single oysters, the product could be materially improved in shape, 
quality, and value. 

The salinity of the waters of Terrebonne Parish appears to have 
increased in recent years from the same causes that have operated to 
raise the density in the upper parts of Barataria Bay, changes in 
drainage due largely to improvements in the levee system. It is 
stated that at places in Terrebonne and other bayous where oysters 
now grow the water was formerly fresh enough for cattle to drink. 
This is confirmed by a comparison of recent salinity observations with 
those made in 1808, though the. latter were so few that they do not 
serve as a satisfactory criterion of conditions at that time. The 
average salinities observed during the present investigations are 
shown in the following table : 

» A preliminary study of the conditions of oyster culture in the waters of Terrebonne 
Parish, La. Bulletin 0, Gulf Biologic Station, Cameron, La. 



OYSTEK CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 



37 



Salinity Records for Waters in Terrebonne Parish. 



Locality. 


1906. 


1907. 


1908. 


1909. 


Timbalier Bay 


Sp. gr. 
1.0177 
1. 0166 
1.0166 
1.0164 
1.0202 
1.0164 


Sp. gr. 

1.0156 
1.0171 
1.0164 
1.0161 


Sp. gr. 
1.0109 


Sp. gr. 
1.0194 








1 


Seabreeze 


1 


















1.0146 
I.OISO 
1.015.3 
1.0161 








1.0172 
1.0180 
1.0172 






Lake Pelto ". 


"i.'oira" 




Pelican Lake . 


1.0192 







The localities listed above are all in the region of higher salinities, 
and in most places it would probably be impossible, or at least im- 
practicable, to raise oysters on ciiltch, owing to the liability to attack 
b}^ borers. It is probable that the disappearance of many of the 
natural reefs is as much due to these conditions as to overfishing, the 
two agencies together proving disastrous where either alone would 
be tolerated. In the region west of Pelican Lake, where the saltness 
of the water is mitigated by the discharge from Atchafalya River, 
and in Terrebonne. Little Caillou, and other bayous which carry 
fresh water from the interior, the conditions are apparently such as 
to jDermit the set and growth of young oysters on suitable planted 
material. 

Considered as a whole, that part of Terrebonne Parish under ob- 
servation during the present investigations was about as rich in 
oyster food as that part of Plaquemines Parish west of the Missis- 
sippi River, was considerably' poorer than Barataria Bay, and was 
somewhat less prolific than the region east of the Mississippi in 
either Plaquemines or St. Bernard parishes. Food organisms were 
found to be most abundant in Timbalier Baj- and Pelican Lake, 
where the supply was good, and least numerous in the open waters of 
Terrebonne Baj^ 

The depth ranges from 3 to 10 feet in the larger bodies of water, 
but is much deeper in many passes and ba^'ous. There appear to be 
no very extensive areas of hard bottom in the region observed, ex- 
cepting on the extinct natural beds, but there are many places where 
the bottom, while soft, would support deposits of shells or seed 
oysters, and there is usually a narrow fringe of hard bottom aro»ind 
the shores of the bays. 

The experiments in this parish were carried on. at two places, Sea- 
breeze and Pelican Lake, but in neither case were satisfactory results 
attained from the planting of shells. LTndoubtedly more favorable 
places could be found, but the general inaccessibility of the region 
and the lack of living accommodations operated to restrict the choice 
of localities. 



38 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 



SEABREEZE. 

Seabreeze is the name given to an oyster house, no longer operated, 
situated on Bayou Terrebonne where it is intersected by Bayou La 
Graisse and the cut-off to Lake Barre. Below this point Terrebonne 
Bayou is very shallow and its discharge is mainly through Bayou 
La Graisse and the cut-off into Terrebonne Bay and Lake Barre, 
respectively. There are a number of leases located in this vicinity in 
Terrebonne Bayou, Bayou La Graisse, and Lake Barre, but they are 
all or nearly all on extinct oyster reefs and are planted with seed 
oysters obtained from the natural beds. Experiments were under- 
taken at this place for the purpose of determining whether a method 
could be devised for using the exceedingly soft bottom common at 
many places in the parish, and whether the physical and biological 
conditions were such as to permit the set and development of young 
oysters on planted materials. The site selected was a small cove on 
the north side of Bayou La Graisse, where the water has a depth 
of about 2 feet and the mud is so soft that a man wading will at once 
sink above his knees, a consistency which any experienced oyster 
grower would at once pronounce prohibitive. The currents in this 
cove are sluggish, but a strong circulation is maintained in the ad- 
joining bayou. The salinity of the water at this station is compara- 
tively high, the specific gravity during the two years in which records 
were made ranging between 1.0138 and 1.020G, few observations de- 
parting materially from the general average of 1.0163. 

The waters of this vicinity are but moderately productive in oyster 
food, the observations made in Lake Felicity, Lake Barre, Terrebonne 
Bayou, and on the experimental beds yielding approximately the 
same average results. The following table gives the record on the 
experimental beds : 

Food Content, Specific (Ikavity, and Temperature of Water on Experi- 
mental Oyster Beds at Seabreeze, 





Date. 


Specific 
gravity. 


Temper- 
ature. 


Food organisms per 
liter of water. 




Number. Volume. 


A.pril 'iO 


190G. 


1.0174 
1.0138 
1.0171 
1.0165 
1.0102 
1.01 (-.4 
1.0184 

1.0205 
1.0158 
1.0146 


"F. 

78.8 

80.6 

83.3 

86 

&3.3 

78.8 

78.8 

72 

66.5 

87 


13.500 
9,000 
8,000 


Cu. mm. 
0.297 


May 2 


.193 


30 


.286 








6,000 
1,000 
2,000 

6,400 
1,800 
2,500 


.190 




.016 




.152 




1907. 


.144 


April 20 


.097 




.149 










1.0163 




5,355 


.169 









OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 39 

No actual observations of oyster enemies were made at this station, 
but the conditions are such as to make it probable that the borer 
may occur in sufficient numbers to prevent the successful application 
of the methods of planting shells and other materials for the purpose 
of securing a strike of spat. At this station no brood oysters were 
planted, the supply of floating fry originating on the natural and 
planted beds in contiguous waters being amply sufficient to fill all 
requirements. In all 16 plantings were made, the methods being 
more varied than at any other station. The first cultch was planted 
about the end of April, 1906, and additional sections of the bottom 
were planted on the last of May and earlj^^ in July of the same year. 
The results were such as to discourage further work, and after a 
final examination of the beds in April, 1907, the experiment was 
abandoned. 

Oyster shells were deposited both broadcast and in small piles in 
proportions varying from 400 to 600 bushels to the acre, and after 
the lapse of about one month were found to be so densely covered 
with spat as to defy count, in many cases the small oysters being 
superimposed in several layers. At the end of two months many of 
the shells spread broadcast had become engulfed in the mud, but 
those still unburied bore large numbers of young oysters measuring 
between three-fourths and 1^ inches in length, with many smaller 
ones. The shells deposited in piles were still unburied in larger 
proportions, and all not covered by the mud, whether they were on 
the surface of the piles or in the interior, bore an average of about 
35 young oj^sters, each ranging from one-half inch to over 1^ inches 
long. In April, 1907, practically all of these shells, both those spread 
broadcast and those planted in piles, were buried in the mud. Only 
4 or 5 shells, of those planted in piles, were recovered, and these bore 7 
oysters, the largest of which was 2| inches long. 

Other shells were planted on a flooring of palmetto leaves, on the 
supposition that the fibrous matter of the latter would resist deca}^ 
and serve as a mattress to prevent the sinking of the shells. Though 
this experiment was by no means a success the results were the best 
attained in this localit}^, and after the lapse of a year a few oysters 
measuring 1^ to 3| inches long were recovered from the bed. It is 
possible that in the remote future, when it may be advisable to 
utilize the very soft bottoms of Terrebonne Parish, some modification 
of this method may be of value, but it has no present utility. Several 
plantings were made of palmetto leaves and brush thrust by their 
stems into the mud. It was hoped that these materials would hold 
together long enough to yield marketable oysters and that the vege- 
table fragments and oysters falling to the bottom would eventually 
stiffen the consistency of the surface mud and make a firm foundation 
for future operations. The strike on these materials, especially on 



40 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS TN LOUISIANA. 

the palmetto, was enormous in quantity. At the end of the first month 
there were over 800 oysters between one-eighth and one-half inch 
long on each leaf and there were probably over three times that many 
smaller spat. One month later, however, practically all of these had 
dropped off and had become lost in the mud, while the few still at- 
tached fell away at the slightest touch. After the lapse of a year 
no trace of oysters was to be found, the brush had become covered 
with slime and more or less rotten, while the jDalmetto was reduced 
to a few wisps of fiber still attached to the stem and a small mass 
of decayed material on the bottom. 

The foregoing experiments exhausted the list of cultcli materials 
available at this place, and in view of the results the work was 
abandoned. It is believed that the hopelessness of the attempt to 
use at present the very soft bottoms in this vicinity has been demon- 
strated. They undoubtedly can be made available for oyster culture 
by the use of large quantities of sand or shells to form an artificial 
firm surface, but such materials would have to be transported long 
distances and the expense would be at present prohibitive, especially 
in view of the area of naturally more favorable bottom to be found 
in adjacent waters. That a prolific strike occurs in this region was 
shown and it is probable that it can be depended on yearly. It was 
also demonstrated, by the few surviving oysters, that the conditions 
are favorable for very rapid growth. 

PELICAN LAKE. 

After the abandonment of the plantation at Seabreeze, experi- 
ments were begun at Pelican Lake, on the recommendation of the 
state oyster commission. Large operations in planting seed 03^ster3 
from the natural beds had recently been undertaken by a company at 
Houma, and it appeared desirable to determine whether the method 
of cultch i^lanting to catch a strike of young oysters was feasible. 
The location also appeared to have some advantage from the presence 
of a watchman to prevent depredations and the destruction of the 
boundary marks, but the expectations in this respect were not realized. 

Pelican Lake is a somewhat quadrangular body of water lying 
northwest of Lake Pelto, with which it communicates through Bay 
Rond and connecting bayous. At its southwestern corner it is con- 
nected with Wilson Bay and on its northern and northeastern borders 
are the mouths of several considerable bayous. The bay has an area 
of 5 or 6 square miles and a depth, toward the middle, of about 6 or 7 
feet, gradually shoaling to 3 or 4 feet closer to the shores. There 
are strong currents near the entrances of Wilson Bay and Bayou 
Go-to-Hell, but in the greater part of the lake they are sluggish. 

The salinity of the water is rather high, the specific gravity rang- 
ing, during the three years in which it was under observation, be- 
tween 1.0136 and 1.0209, the average of all observations, 34 in number, 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 



41 



being 1.0167. The salinity is least in spring and summer and greatest 
in December and January. The bottom of the greater part of the 
lake is composed of soft mud, but there is a fringe of moderately 
hard bottom extending around most of the rim for a distance of 
several hundred yards from the shore. Near the entrance to Wilson 
Bay and at several other places in the southern part of Pelican Lake 
there are hard areas of limited extent occupying, apparently, the 
sites of extinct oyster beds. Oyster planting is at present confined 
to the littoral fringe of moderately hard bottom, and although the 
soft bottoms of the center of the lake eventually may be utilized, 
their preparation would involve an expense so considerable as to 
prevent their occupation until the naturally more suitable bottoms are 
more fully occupied. 

In oyster food Pelican Lake is richer than any waters between 
there and Barataria Bay, with the single exception of Timbalier 
Bay, with which it is about on a parity. In this respect, however, 
it is inferior to the sites of the experimental plants at Falsemouth 
Bay, Bay Tambour, and Bayou St. Denis, but is superior to Three- 
mile Bay and Seabreeze. The most prolific waters are in the north- 
ern part of the lake, where the influence of the strong currents in 
Bayou Go-to-Hell is experienced, the region close to Wilson Pass, 
also a locality with strong currents, being fair. The fluctuations in 
the food supply, the specific gravities, and the temperatures of the 
water, observed at various times during the course of the investiga- 
tions, are shown in the following table. In most cases the data re- 
corded are the averages of several observations made practically 
simultaneously in different parts of the lake. 



Food Content, Specific Gravity, and Temperature of Water at Pelican 

Lake. 





Date. 


Speci. c 
gravity. 


Temper- 
ature. 


Food organisms per 
liter of water. 




Number. 


Volume. 




1906. 


1.0180 
1.0154 
1.0204 
1.0205 

1.0209 
1.0180 
1.0170 
1.0150 
1.0150 
1.0168 
1.0145 
1.0169 

1.0154 
1.0171 


°F. 
83.5 


10,900 
4,125 
9,000 

12, 875 

1,800 
3,600 

10,2,50 
8,500 
7,325 
2,850 
2,650 

19,500 

36,000 
5,000 


Cu. mm. 
0.119 


July 8 


.077 




84 
70.7 

73 

68 

77.9 

73.4 

77 

86.6 

87.3 

58 

79.5 
83 


.128 




.302 




1907. 


.082 


April ■'0 


.193 


May 9 


.409 


10 


.312 


29 


.313 




.077 


July 23 


.135 




.943 


April 15 


1908. 


.561 


June 16 


.235 










1.0172 




9,598 


.277 









42 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 

The drumfish is reputed to cause some damage in these waters and 
it is said that 5 per cent of the seed oysters phinted are killed by it. 
There were formerly several natural oyster beds, but they are now 
wholly extinct, and it is stated that they have been unproductive for 
about twenty years. It is believed that the extinction of these beds 
is due largely to the great numbers of borers found in the lake. Dur- 
ing the progress of the experiments hereafter recounted practically 
all of the 3'oung oysters were killed by these industrious enemies, and 
it may be fairly assumed that the same conditions obtained on the 
original natural beds. With the majority of the spat being killed in 
this manner and the adults being taken by the oystermen, the utter 
extermination of the beds was practically inevitable. It is possible, 
also, that the water has increased in salinity, and, therefore, has be- 
come more favorable to the borers, through the improvement of the 
levee system and the consequent changes in drainage. We have no 
evidence that this is the case in the region under discussion, but it is 
undoubtedly true in certain localities to the eastward already men- 
tioned. The experiments in Pelican Lake were conducted on five 
sites, three in the northern part of the bay and two in the southern 
half. The characteristics of the several localities planted are as 
follows : 

Bed A. — North of the mouth of California Pass. Bottom soft. 
Currents moderately strong. 

Bed B. — West of the mouth of Bayou Go-to-Hell. Bottom moder- 
ately hard. Currents strong. 

Bed C. — On the west side of the lake about halfway between the 
preceding and Wilson Pass. Bottom moderately hard. Currents 
not noted. 

Bed D. — East of the mouth of Wilson Pass. Bottom hard, on edge 
of extinct reef. Currents of moderate strength. 

Bed E. — South of the mouth of California Pass. Bottom soft. 
Currents moderate. 

On all of these the mud, as shown by mechanical tests with the 
mud-sounding machine, was sufficiently firm to warrant planting 
without previous preparation of the bottom. 

Planting of oyster shells spread broadcast were made on each of 
these beds in May and June, 1907, and, in addition, on bed E in April, 
1908, in quantities varying from 600 to 900 bushels per acre. No 
experiments were made in planting seed oysters, as that method was 
already under trial on a large commercial scale. 

On May 9, 1907. a single planting was made on bed B, and on June 
30 every shell was found to bear spat about one-half inch long, while 
on the same date sections of this bed and bed A, planted on May 27 
and 29, had spat on from 25 to 45 per cent of the shells. Sections 
on beds C and D, in the southern part of the lake, planted on the same 



OYSTEK CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 43 

dates, were j^ractically devoid of living spat, although there were a 
few dead ones bearing evidence of having been killed by borers. 

In April, 1908, when the beds were examined all sections of bed A 
were devoid of young oysters. On bed B every shell tonged bore 
numerous spat killed by borers, but there were among them a few 
young live oysters from 1 to 1^ inches long. Bed D was entirely 
exterminated so far as living oysters were concerned, and the shells 
were much corroded by the yellow boring sponge, which produces 
the condition which the oystermen term " worm-eaten." 

On the section of bed E planted June 30, 1907, about 40 per cent 
of the shells bore, each, one or two oysters about 1 to 2 inches long 
in the following year, but an adjoining section planted in April, 
1908, had a heavy set of spat entirely killed by borers when exam- 
ined in June. 

On the seed oysters which had been planted in this lake there are 
a very small growth of spat, much boring sponge, and many borers. 
This seed was obtained largely from Pointe au P^er Reef at the mouth 
of the Atchafalaya River; it was very rough and mixed with debris, 
and no effort appears to have been made to cull it or even to break 
up the larger bunches. In consequence the oysters now on the beds 
are badly clustered and crowded, to the detriment of both shape and 
condition. When last examined in January, 1909, they were of large 
size, averaging, as taken from the beds, about 150 per bushel, and 
they were plump but watery in appearance. 

It is probable that Pelican Lake would prove an excellent place 
for growing oysters if clean, properly culled seed were used, and if 
it were not planted too densely. The margin only of the lake is fit to 
use in its unimproved condition, but the soft mud in the middle 
should serve as a good nursery for oyster food, the supply of which, 
in the lake at large, is good. On the other hand, as shown by the ex- 
periments just recounted, it would be futile to attempt to raise oysters 
from spat caught on planted shells or other cultch, owing to the 
favorable environment which the high salinity of the water furnishes 
to the borer. It is probable that the numbers of this destructive pest 
have been greatly augmented by the accessions to those naturally 
present brought in with the rough seed from the natural reefs, 
although, both from its location and its repute, it is not believed that 
Pointe au Fer is especially pernicious in this respect. 

OYSTER FOOD. 

In certain parts of the Louisiana coast oystermen and planters 
have encountered the difficulty frequent in all oyster-producing waters, 
the constant or occasional failure of the oysters to fatten. In Three- 
mile Bay and some of the adjacent waters, in Bay Adam and vicinity, 



44 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 

and at various places in Terrebonne Parish, this difficulty has become 
a serious impediment to oyster culture. 

In some cases the trouble is undoubtedly due to the overcrowding 
of oysters on the planted beds or to the planting of such extensive 
areas that the total oyster population of the region affected is in ex- 
cess of the number for which the waters are able to furnish an ample 
food supply. In any given body of water, under fixed conditions of 
drainage and tidal flow, there is probably a more or less fixed limit 
to the production of the minute plants on which oysters feed, and a 
correlated limit to the number of oysters that can be produced for 
the market. Where this limit is exceeded either by planting densely 
over a small area or more sparsely over an extensive one, especially 
in an inclosed body of water, the result is manifested in the poor con- 
dition of the product. This is not a theory, but a demonstrated fact, 
analogous to overgrazing of cattle on pasture lands, and must be 
given consideration by the successful oyster culturist. The same 
condition is induced by a heavy growth of mussels and other organ- 
isms whose food is the same as the oysters. 

There are, however, other cases of failure of oysters to fatten which 
are not so well understood. Regions formerly favorable sometimes 
entirely cease to produce marketable oysters, even where there has 
occurred no material change in the density and distribution of the 
oyster population. In such instances it often happens that there has 
been some coincident sudden or gradual change in the drainage or in 
the tidal flows. 

Something of this nature seems to have occurred in the vicinity of 
Bay Adam, where practically no fat oysters are now produced, 
though we w^ere informed that in former years good oysters were 
grown regularly. Coincidently with this change in conditions, the 
rice fields draining into the bay went out of production. It is the 
opinion of some of the oyster planters that the two occurrences were 
causally related, and the authors concur as to the probable truth of 
this explanation. Undoubtedly the drainage from the rice fields 
carried with it considerable quantities of the fertilizing salts required 
for the production of the microscopic plant food of the oyster, and 
since these enriching materials have been largely or entirely cut off the 
waters have become less fertile and productive. It has been proposed 
to correct this deficiency in several places by conducting fresh water 
to the oyster grounds from the Mississippi River through siphons 
such as were used in the irrigation of the rice fields. Wliether or not 
this measure would afford effective relief is a matter of some doubt. 
It can hardly be questioned that much of the fertility of the waters 
formerly came from the organic and mineral matter carried from 
the rice fields themselves, and it is doubtful whether the river water 
itself carries organic matter in sufficient quantity to afford material 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 45 

relief, heavily charged though it may be with suspended mineral 
particles and salts in solution. 

More common phenomena of the oyster beds are the seasonal and 
irregularly periodical fluctuations in the condition of the oysters. In 
some years the oysters in certain regions may be fat and in other 
places poor, while at another time the conditions will be wholly 
reversed. Again seasons will occur when the oysters are poor almost 
everywhere without apparent reasons. That these fluctuations are 
immediately due to the relative abundance or scarcity of available 
food admits of but little doubt, but granting that the assumption be 
true the difficulty instead of being solved is merely shifted to a more 
remote cause. Is there an actual deficiency in the quantity of food 
organisms and if so, what are the chemical, phj^sical, and biological 
causes producing it? Or is there an abundance of food merely un- 
available on account of some peculiarity of its distribution ? 

The feeding of oysters has been studied for many years, both in 
this country and in Europe, but w^e still know very little concerning 
the subject, other than the mere nature of the food and the general 
anatomical means by which it is ingested. It is only within three 
3^ears that it has been possible even approximately to estimate the 
comparative volumes of the food carried by the waters of difi^erent 
localities, and such data are available for but a few places, all 
previous results being too indefinite to be of any material value. 
Even with the methods at present employed the results are not justly 
comparable between various localities unless large numbers of obser- 
vations are made embracing all average weather conditions; though 
in the case of neighboring localities, where the weather conditions 
may be assumed to be approximately the same, simultaneous or 
approximately simultaneous observations may be accepted as com- 
parable. 

It may be observed in the preceding tables, presented in the dis- 
cussion of the experiments in oyster culture, that there is wide diver- 
gence in the number and volume of the food organisms present in the 
water at different times. In Pelican Lake, for instance, the number 
of diatoms and other food organisms varied between 1,800 and 36,000, 
while their volume ranged between 0.077 and 0.943 cubic millimeter 
per liter of water (a cubic millimeter is about equal to the volume 
of a cube measuring one twentj'-fifth of an inch in diameter, and a 
liter is about 1^ quarts). This divergence is due very largely to 
the varying state of the weather, the smaller results being as a rule 
obtained after and during periods of calm, while the higher ones 
were invariably observed at times when strong winds prevailed. The 
reason for this is readily understood. The water specimens for 
the determination of the food content are taken from the stratum 
lying between 2 and 12 inches of the bottom. Many of the or- 



46 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 

ganisms, especially the minute plants known as '' diatoms," on which 
the oyster feeds, live habitually on or close to the bottom, from 
which they are lifted and transported mainly through the agency 
of waves and currents. Many of them possess feeble powers of 
locomotion, but these are practically negligible in most of the bottom- 
dwelling species. It is therefore obvious that when the water is 
agitated by heavy winds and the bottom is stirred, the food organ- 
isms which in calm weather lie more or less quiescent on the mud 
will become mingled with other sedimentary matter in suspension 
in the water and the quantity taken in the specimen will be vastly 
augmented. This accords with field observation and is confirmed by 
the correlation existing between the volume of the food and that of 
the sand and other sedimentary matter in the precipitate from the 
water specimens. When the food is much in excess of the average, 
ordinary sediment is likewise large in volume, and when it is at the 
minimum, inorganic matter is comparatively lacking. 

At present there appears to be no accurate method by which these 
fluctuations in the sedimentary condition of the water may be taken 
into account in the study of the comparative values of different locali- 
ties for purposes of oyster culture, the most that can be done being 
to indicate more or less indefinitely the general state of the weather 
at and immediately preceding the time at which the observations 
are made. If observations could be taken at each locality daily or 
at frequent intervals throughout the year, the average results at- 
tained in different places would be strictly comparable, for the 
methods employed show the quantity of food which is actually avail- 
able to the oysters at the time of observation. 

^Vhen the diatoms and other food organisms are lifted from the 
bottom through the mechanical effect of the waves it is almost cer- 
tain that the oysters should profit. Therefore, although we have as 
yet no experimental data which would render the statement positive, 
it is extremely probable that the matter of wave action must be added 
to the numerous other factors entering into the food supply of oys- 
ters, and that a certain amount of agitation of the bottom favors 
fattening. A region subject to this phenomenon should accordingly 
be preferable to one not so subject, and a season of strong winds 
should be more favorable than one of prevailing calms or breezes so 
light as to leave the bottom wholly undisturbed. When we have 
accumulated more data on the subject it is not improbable that in 
some cases seasons in which oysters fail to fatten may be found to 
be characterized by the prevalence of light winds. 

During the course of the experiments in oyster culture previously 
described an attempt was made to study the distribution of oyster 
food on th,e coast of Louisiana in the hope that facts could be gar- 
nered wdiich would throw some light on the reasons for local and 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 



47 



seasonal differences in its quantity. It may be confessed at once that 
the results lead to no satisfactory conclusions, owing to the neces- 
sarily limited number of observations in most places and the acci- 
dental fluctuations introduced by the factor just discussed, though 
the data gathered will probably assist to a solution of the problem 
when considered in relation to experimental work now being carried 
on at other places. The accumulation of data is probably the most 
that can be attempted for several years to come. 

During a period of thirty-three months 498 food determinations 
were made at 61 different stations. At most places observations were 
made but once or twice in each year, but at the experimental plants 
they were made more frequently. In the case of the latter there is 
perhaps some basis for comparison, but in most other places the num- 
ber of observations was too small to be assumed to represent anything 
approaching average conditions. The following table shows the 
average quantity of food and the salinity of the water at all places 
in which five or more observations were made : 

Average Quantity of Oyster Food in Various Louisiana Localities, Based 
ON Five or More Determinations. 



Locality. 



Number 


Average 


Food organisms per 
liter of water. 


of 


specific 




observa- 


gravity of 








tions. 


water. 


Number. 


Volume. 








Cu. mm. 


14 


1.0064 


5,675 


0.177 


13 


1.0056 


9,000 


.342 


8 


1.0076 


7,200 


.217 


/ 


1.0102 


6,030 


.169 


7 


1.0119 


7,000 


.185 


7 


1.0162 


5,230 


.192 


6 


1.0174 


4,270 


.172 


8 


1.0181 


10,160 


.252 


7 


1.0160 


7,900 


.237 


6 


1.0160 


6,725 


.219 


8 


1.0176 


6,350 


.166 


7 


1.0184 


6,900 


.248 


7 


1.0195 


5,540 


.189 


7 


1.0190 


8,640 


.329 


9 


1.0117 


4,890 


.155 


5 


1.0112 


7,060 


.222 


26 


1.0115 


6,000 


.120 


11 


1.0123 


4,275 


.126 


9 


1.0095 


12, 522 


.320 


10 


1.0107 


7,525 


.230 


19 


1.0090 


10,460 


.337 


11 


1.0151 


17,363 


.580 


10 


1. 0120 


9,675 


.241 


19 


1.0157 


9,250 


.235 


48 


. 1.0127 


5,690 


.195 


19 


1.0147 


10,200 


.295 


9 


1.0148 


17,500 


.211 


7 


1.0160 


7,000 


.264 


5 


1.0169 


6,600 


.193 


18 


1.0164 


5,675 


.169 


5 


1.0182 


5,600 


.188 


38 


1.0167 


12,600 


.252 



Three-mile Bay 

Falsemouth Bay 

Nine-mile Bay, south end 

Treasure Bay 

Big Mussel Bay 

Saw Bay 

Blind Bay 

Caligo Bay 

Black Bay 

Long Bay 

Cock Bay .'.. 

American Bay 

California Bay 

Quarantine Say 

Bastien Bay 

Bayou Cook 

Bay Adam 

Grand Bayou 

Bay Sans-bois 

Bay Baptiste 

Bayou St. Denis 

Barataria Bay (Quartelle) 

Bayou Bruleau 

Bayou Rigault 

Grand Isle 

Bay Tambour 

Lake Raecoisi 

Timbalier Bay 

Lake Felicity 

Seabreeze Factory 

Lake Pelto , 

Pelican Lake , 



As the salinity depends upon the relative proportions of the ad- 
mixture of fresh and salt waters, the specific gravity may be taken 
as an index of the degree to which a locality is influenced by the 



48 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 

discharge of fresh Avater from the hincl. A low specific gravity, such 
as obtains in Three-mile Bay and vicinity, indicates a close relation 
to land drainage, as compared with another locality, such as Caligo 
Bay, in which the specific gravity is high. If land drainage and its 
contained fertilizing salts are highly important, as we generally sup- 
pose, in stimulating the growth of oyster food, it would be expected, 
other things being equal, that a low specific gravity would be cor- 
related with a high food content as compared with a high specific 
gravity in the same system of waters. An examination of the fore- 
going table exhibits no such relation between the salinities and the 
food contents of the waters, when the various connected waters are 
compared with others in the same system or chain. The authors 
have prepared tables showing the specific gravity and food content 
of the waters at various times in each of the localities enumerated in 
the foregoing table of averages, and these show the same apparent 
lack of correlation, a high food content occurring sometimes with a 
low and at other times with a high specific gravity in the same 
locality. 

It is probable that these results are to be regarded as nonconclusive 
rather than as showing that a relationship does not exist. The un- 
controlled factors, particularly the stirring up of the bottom by 
wave action, are too important to be disregarded and their influence 
can be overcome only, apparently, by making many more observations 
than were possible under the conditions of the present investigation. 
Deductions from work of this character, unless the observations can 
be carried on systematically almost daily throughout the year, are 
likely to be misleading, and the investigations of the oyster food of 
Louisiana waters can be regarded as shedding no light on the effects 
of introducing river water in such localities as Bay Adam with the 
purpose of improving the conditions for fattening oysters. 

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION. 

The following epitomizes the results of the experiments and in- 
vestigations of the oyster regions of Louisiana, east of the Atchafa- 
laya Eiver, between April, 190G, and January, 1909, and the deduc- 
tions which the authors draw from their observations : 

1. It is believed that the future of both the natural beds and 
oyster culture in Louisiana will be benefited by greater restrictions 
on the issuance of permits to take unculled oysters from the natural 
beds. A too general practice in this respect tends to the depletion 
of the natural beds of not only oysters, but the shells that are essen- 
tial for their future prosperity, and at the same time has the effect of 
discouraging the planting of shells on leased bottoms. 

2. A limited issuance of such permits to take unculled stock from 
designated beds which are known to be overcrowded or which are 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 49 

subject to disaster from freshets would prove of benefit to the beds 
designated and to oyster culture in general. It would result in saving 
many thousand barrels of oysters which would otherwise die from the 
effects of fresh water and crowding or which would never reach a 
good marketable condition owing to starvation and suffocation from 
an overpopulation of the reefs. 

3. Beds known to produce few or no marketable oysters on ac- 
count of overcrowding should be temporarily set apart as seed beds, 
from which the planters may secure culled oysters for bedding pur- 
poses under the provisions of the present law permitting such oysters 
to be taken after the close of the regular season. The provision of 
the law permitting this practice in the waters east of the western 
boundary of Plaquemines Parish could be advantageously extended, 
under the restriction just stated, to other parts of the state. 

4. It Avill prove of great advantage in the future and will avoid 
ultimate embarrassment and expense to both the state and the lessees 
of oyster bottom if some measure can be adopted to insure the refer- 
ence of leasehold corners to j^ermanent landmarks in such manner 
that disputed boundaries can be accurately redetermined. This sug- 
gestion may appear to be of but little present importance, but the 
experience of other states shows that ultimately it must be followed. 

5. The results of the foregoing investigations, and observations 
made during their course, indicate that as a potential oyster-produc- 
ing state Louisiana is not excelled, if equalled, by any other section 
of the country. Wlierever experiments were conducted it was shown 
that there was an abundant strike of spat, and the indications are 
that this can be depended upon to occur yearly without fail, though 
in some cases it is often destroyed by the borer. This danger, how- 
ever, is not to be feared in any place where the specific gravity of 
the water is less than 1.012 — that is, where there is an admixture of 
about equal parts of salt and fresh water — and the seed-producing 
area of the state is therefore ample to support an immense planting 
industry. The Louisiana planter has consequently little to fear from 
the bugbear of his northern confrere, the occasional or frequent 
scarcity of seed. 

6. The depth of water over most of the oyster-producing area of 
the state is so small as to minimize the cost of taking up the oysters, 
and the comparatively sheltered situation of much of the bottom 
suitable for oyster culture, and the mildness of the weather as com- 
pared with that encountered in more northern localities during the 
oyster season, allow the work to be prosecuted with less frequent 
interruptions and therefore more economically. The warmer tem- 
perature in spring and fall, however, tends somewhat to reduce the 
length of the season. 



50 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 

7. The configuration of the Louisiana coast, with its broad front- 
age of salt marshes, which will probably always preclude its occupa- 
tion by a considerable population, renders the oyster grounds prac- 
tically immune from dangerous sewage pollution, a consideration 
of vital importance to the consumer and of corresponding advantage 
to the producer of oysters. 

8. The greater distance of the Louisiana coast from most of the 
larger centers of population is its chief disadvantage as compared 
with the oyster regions of the Middle Atlantic States. In respect to 
the growing population of the West, however, it labors under no such 
impediment to development, as is shown by the vast increase in the 
quantity of Louisiana oysters marketed since the enactment of the 
laws now in force. 

9. The oyster food supply in the waters of Louisiana is generally 
good and the growth of oysters is rapid. As shown by the experi- 
ments previously described, good marketable oysters can be produced 
within two years of the time at which they attach to cultch, and a 
corresponding growth occurs in seed oysters. The oyster planter 
therefore reaps a quicker and larger return on his investment than 
he would in places where the growth is slower. 

10. The results of the experiments show that a larger quantity of 
oysters can be grown per acre than can be produced in most places. 
On the small experimental beds at Falsemouth Bay, Three-mile Bay, 
and Bayou St. Denis there were, at least, upward of 1,000 standard 
bushels per acre at the end of two years from the time of planting 
the cultch, and it is understood that this quantity per acre is grown 
on planted beds in other parts of the state. 

11. The area of bottom available for oyster culture is large, but it 
varies in the character of the oysters produced and consequently in 
the purposes for which they can be used. It is probable that in 
practically all places where the fresh water exceeds the salt water 
and the latter does not fall much below 20 per cent in the admixture, 
seed oysters can be raised on suitable bottom, either for transplanting 
to places more favorable for growth or for the production of market 
oysters in situ. Three-mile Bay and vicinity appears to be of the first 
sort and Falsemouth Bay and Bayou St. Denis fall in the second 
category. In places in which the salinity is higher than that de- 
scribed above, the salt water in the mixture being in excess of the 
fresh, seed oysters usually can not be produced in considerable quan- 
tities, not on account of the absence of a strike but because most of 
the spat is destroyed by drills. Such localities, of which Bay Tam- 
bour is a type, may often be excellent for producing market oysters 
from seed raised elsewhere. 

12. The experiments at Three-mile Bay demonstrated the possi- 
bility of producing a heavy growth of oysters on planted shells, but 



OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 51 

the strike was so prolific that they were badly clustered, of bad shape 
and so poor in quality that they were of small value for market 
purposes. Oysters planted commercially in contiguous waters were 
of the same character. To be of much value this growth would 
require culling, the breaking up of the clusters and replanting less 
densely, preferably on harder bottom than most of that in the vicin- 
ity, and where the currents are stronger and food more abundant. 
It is not certain that this would be commercially profitable under 
present conditions. The oysters at present raised in this vicinity are 
suitable for canning purposes only. 

13. In Falsemouth Bay a good strike occurred throughout the 
spring and summer in the three consecutive years of the experiments. 
The oysters produced exhibited a rapid growth, were in small clusters, 
and produced 7 pints of perfectly drained meats per standard bushel, 
an equivalent of over a gallon as measured at the shucking houses. 
They were nearh^ all extra selects, and the locality appears to the 
authors to be especially valuable for the production of oysters for the 
raw trade. There is a large area of hard bottom in the bay, and while 
the quality of the oysters would probably deteriorate if it were all 
planted, a considerable proportion, especially near the openings of 
the bayous discharging into Mississippi Sound, could be planted with 
confidence of good results. The only drawback to the oysters raised 
on the experimental beds was that the shells were rather brittle and 
sometimes broke in shucking. 

14. At Bayou St. Denis, in Barataria Bay, the oysters raised on 
the experimental beds from planted shells were as fine as any that 
are grown on the Atlantic coast. They grew rapidly, had round, 
deeply cupped, rather heavy shells, and were very fat. Owing to 
the thicker shells they produced proportionately less meat than the 
preceding, but " turned out " about 5 J pints, thoroughly drained, 
per bushel, an equivalent of about 7 pints shucking-house measure- 
ment. They were equal in quality to the famous " Lynnhaven Bays " 
of Virginia, which sell for $3 or more per bushel in the northern 
markets, and they can be j:)roduced in much larger quantity per acre. 
They are readily salable in the shell as barrel stock. 

15. At Bay Tambour, on the contrary, while there is a good set, 
the young oysters are soon killed by the snail or borer. Seed oysters 
2 inches or possibly not less than 1| inches long appear to be immune. 
The seed oysters planted at this place grew rapidly and attained a 
condition little if any inferior to those at Bayou St. Denis. A con- 
siderable area of the southern part of Barataria Bay and the con- 
tiguous waters has similar characteristics and a number of leases 
have been taken in that vicinity since the beginning of the experi- 
ments. Nearly 100,000 standard bushels of excellent oysters were 
produced on planted beds in Barataria Bay as a whole in the season 



52 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 

1908-9, though previous to these experiments the region was totally 
unproductive. 

16. At Seabreeze the attempt to discover a means of using excess- 
ively soft bottom was unsuccessful. It was demonstrated that a 
heavy strike occurs, but the salinity of the water is so high that it is 
probable that trouble with the borer would be encountered. The 
growth of oysters is rapid and seed planted on hard bottom in the 
vicinity should flourish. 

17. At Pelican Lake a heavy strike occurs, but the spat are soon 
killed by borers. The region is fairly suitable for growing market 
oysters from seed, but the latter should be culled at least sufficiently 
to break up the larger clusters, and the seed should not be planted 
so densely as to be crowded when it has grown to marketable size. 

18. The oyster-food investigations carried on coincidently wdth the 
experimental work were inconclusive in demonstrating a relationship 
between the quantity of surface drainage water on the beds and the 
production of food organisms. They showed, however, that the 
latter are abundant in Louisiana as compared with most oyster 
regions. 

o 



